:: Today's NBA Rumors (courtesy of Yahoo! Sports) ::
(Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:51:27 PST)
Nets' Harris left after disagreement with Thorn?
It was a surprise when Del Harris left the New Jersey Nets as an assistant coach last week. Now word comes from the Newark Star-Ledger that a disagreement between Harris and Nets president Rod Thorn led to Harris taking off from the Garden State.
The agent for Harris apparently told Thorn that his dismal team would be better served if Harris took over as coach and Kiki Vandeweghe was sent back to the front office where he came from.
Thorn supposedly cut the agent off and said, "Hold it right there. All due respect, he will not be the next head coach here. So if he has any delusions about that, you should let him know it's not going to happen."
And then Harris headed to the exit.
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(Mon, 08 Feb 2010 03:36:18 PST)
Chicago Bulls power forward Tyrus Thomas(notes) lost his temper with coach Vinnie Del Negro on Friday and now he's been suspended from the team. The Bulls will try to trade Thomas trade before the Feb. 18 deadline, according to the Chicago Tribune. After all, this is the third disciplinary measure the team has taken against him in his four seasons in Chicago.
If they can't find somebody to take him, the team will likely renounce his rights this summer. One reason the team is able to think about losing Thomas is because rookie Taj Gibson(notes) has been delivering in his spot while Thomas was out with an injury.
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(Fri, 05 Feb 2010 04:52:06 PST)
Stoudemire may stay in Phoenix
There was apparently a lot of talk between the Phoenix Suns and New Jersey Nets about sending Amar'e Stoudemire(notes) to the Eastern Conference doormat, but those talks appear to be over and the word is that Stoudemire might not get traded at all, according to the New York Daily News.
Stoudemire can opt out of his contract this offseason and join the seven billion other top-shelf NBA free agents that will be wandering the land, such as LeBron James(notes), Chris Bosh(notes) and Dwyane Wade(notes). But Stoudemire said Thursday he may just leave the wandering to others and go ahead and stay in Phoenix. He's hearing that a contract extension may be offered to him pretty soon, too.
Conventional wisdom had Stoudemire getting traded and then finding a new team this summer.
Life is full of surprises.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
(Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:04:02 PST)
Mavs trading Josh Howard to Raptors or Heat?
Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard(notes) apparently thinks he's going to be traded before the Feb. 18 deadline, according to DallasBasketball.com.
The Mavs are saying it won't happen but folks who know Howard are supposedly saying he's headed to the Toronto Raptors or the Miami Heat. It's not like the Mavericks will miss him that much. He's having a horrendous year this year. (Maybe too much offseason pot smoking?)
Still, a lot of teams are apparently interested in Howard but don't likely have the pieces that the Mavericks would like in return. Mavs owner Mark Cuban and all his minions aren't happy with the team right now so a shakeup may be coming. Even if it's not Howard, it could be Drew Gooden(notes) or Erick Dampier(notes). Someone is likely to go.
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(Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:52:27 PST)
Nets' immaturity sends Harris packing
Del Harris has just left his spot as assistant coach of the New Jersey Nets, leaving old pal Kiki Vandeweghe to suffer through what is looking like it will be the worst season in NBA history without him. Publicly, Harris is saying Vandeweghe is on a good track. But he's apparently got other things to say privately, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Wojnarowski's sources say that the Nets made it clear to Harris that he wouldn't be on any list to take over coaching duties there anytime soon. That gave Harris pretty much no incentive to deal with "the immature elements of the Nets' locker room," Wojnarowski writes.
"He decided he was just too old to deal with that [stuff]," a source told Wojnarowski.
Now Harris will get to sit at home and watch the whole thing play out on TV like the rest of us.
Follow Yahoo! Sports Rumors on Twitter at @markjmill.
(Wed, 03 Feb 2010 05:05:52 PST)
Michael Jordan has till end of month to buy Bobcats
Charlotte Bobcats owner Robert Johnson was once a billionaire but Forbes estimated that his worth fell to only $550 million last year. He's been trying to unload the Bobcats since last summer and minority owner/team president Michael Jordan has always been interested. When Johnson put the team on the block, Jordan apparently negotiated for the right of first refusal. Now Jordan has got to come up with some cash quickly if he wants to do it, according to ESPN.
Former Houston Rockets president and CEO George Postolos has apparently put his second offer on the table (his first one supposedly fell apart last year) and Jordan has till the end of February to match it.
It remains to be seen if the investors who are working with Jordan either have the dollars or inclination to match the offer by Postolos.
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(Wed, 03 Feb 2010 04:46:24 PST)
Wizards could trade suspended Crittenton
Washington Wizards guard Javaris Crittenton(notes) is still working out on his own since his season-long suspension for bringing a gun into the locker room doesn't allow him to use any of the team's facilities. It's a good thing, too, because he apparently might be traded before the NBA's Feb. 18 deadline and then end up playing some hoop in Europe or elsewhere, according to ESPN.
Crittenton has a $1.48 million expiring contract and every team is anxious to pick up such things this year due to the bountiful crop of free agents that will come available this summer: LeBron James(notes), Dwyane Wade(notes), Amar'e Stoudemire(notes), Chris Bosh(notes), and so on. There are no rules about trading suspended players.
Then Crittenton would probably get released and be eligible to go play overseas.
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(Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:21:10 PST)
The Boston Celtics have apparently told other teams that it is willing to trade Ray Allen(notes), who will be a free agent this summer, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. The Celts reportedly want a younger guard who cost less cash and an expiring contract so they have some money to play with this summer when the cup of free-agent options will overflow.
After all, if the team keeps the 34-year-old Allen, it'll open up a $20 million hole in the team's salary structure this offseason and Boston doesn't want to totally miss out on that. No matter how you slice it, the team isn't likely to re-sign Allen this summer.
The 15-year veteran is supposedly interested in heading to the Miami Heat or, in order to stay near his home in Connecticut, the New York Knicks.
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(Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:04:55 PST)
The Charlotte Bobcats are apparently very interested in adding Sacramento Kings forward Jason Thompson(notes), according to the Sacramento bee.
The Kings may want one of the Bobcats' many centers: 7'1" Tyson Chandler(notes), 7' DeSagana Diop(notes), 7' Alexis Ajinca(notes), and 6'10" shorty Nazr Mohammed(notes).
Rumor has it that the Bobcats also would be more than happy to trade for the expiring contract of the Kings' Kenny Thomas(notes), who is getting paid $8.7 million this season. After all, Thomas and Charlotte coach Larry Brown have liked each other since they were together with the Philadelphia 76ers.
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(Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:42:44 PST)
Knicks looking to deal Jeffries, others
New York Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni isn't very concerned about player morale, it appears, because he's making it very clear that he wants to do some trading before the deadline hits later this month, according to the New York Post.
Since the team is basically out of the playoff race, it is more likely that the Knicks will try to trade for expiring contracts or unload any kind of contractual obligations it has past this year in order to try and create more space and attempt to convince LeBron James(notes), Chris Bosh(notes), Amar'e Stoudemire(notes), and Dwyane Wade(notes) that they really want to come to the Big Apple to play some hoop.
One of the folks up on the block is forward Jared Jeffries(notes), who has scored 4.2 points per game and 4.2 rebounds per game while averaging 27.9 minutes per game.
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