NBA Rumors Round-Up

NBA Rumors: Could Curry Return Home to Charlotte?

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Curry: Playing in Charlotte is “Fun Thought”

Before Curry and the 12-2 Warriors face the Hornets on Friday, he spoke of it being natural to have always thought about playing for his hometown team.

“That’s hard to get out of your head, but obviously, it has no bearing on decisions that I make down the road,” said Curry, who can become a free agent after the 2016-17 season. “It’s just a fun thought to have. The Hornets name does mean a lot to my family, and obviously I’m starting a new thing with the Warriors. I definitely feel right at home here (with Golden State).”

“I’ve always thought about it, but who wouldn’t want to play in front of the fans and family that watched me grow up?” Curry, who’s in the middle of a four-year, $44 million contract with the Warriors, said this week.

“Charlotte means a lot. That’ll never leave me.”

via Diamond Leung of the Oakland Tribune

This isn’t the first time that Curry has suggested he could return to his hometown of Charlotte. Back in August, he told CBS Sports Radio that he “always had thoughts about playing at home, what it would be like.”

Curry grew up in Charlotte and played high school at Charlotte Christian, where he was all-state, all-conference and team MVP while leading the team to three conference titles and three state playoff appearances. When it came time to choose a college, he stayed in state at Davidson. Curry’s father, Dell, played for Charlotte from 1998 to 1999. According to Leung’s article, Steph’s parents still live in Charlotte and keep a room open for him for when he visits.

Curry seems intrigued by the thought of playing for the Hornets, but he has also made it clear that he’s happy with the Warriors. Still, the Hornets have to love these quotes, as it leaves open the possibility of Curry signing in his hometown when he can become a free agent in the summer of 2017.

The 26-year-old point guard has two years remaining on his contract after this season, and he’ll be a highly coveted unrestricted free agent after that. This could be Curry’s first time testing free agency, as his first contract negotiations led to a four-year, $44 million contract extension before the 2012-13 season. At the time, it was considered a fair deal since Curry had been injury prone and had yet to breakout. Now, he’s clearly a max player and a potential MVP candidate.

Don’t be surprised if Charlotte makes sure they have enough cap space for a max deal in the summer of 2017, just in case Curry wants to return.

Claver May Leave Blazers

There no promises in the NBA, which allowed Claver to respond to a question: Would you ever consider returning overseas to play if it doesn’t work out in Portland? – with this answer: “I’m always going to try to choose what’s best for me. This is my last year and obviously if I don’t play I’ll have to find a place where I can play and where I can enjoy the game of basketball and doing what I want to do.”

via Jabari Young of CSNNW

Victor Claver has been the odd man out this year in Portland, as he has yet to appear in a regular season game for the Blazers. The 26-year-old is clearly frustrated with his lack of playing time, and he has made it clear that he’ll look for a situation where he can play more if things don’t work out with the Blazers.

Blazers head coach Terry Stotts had very positive things to say about the third-year forward, but said it’s just tough to make the rotation on such a talented team.

“He’s a great pro,” Stotts told Young. “He does the things that he needs to do every day – comes to work every day, has a good personality, great attitude, I mean he does everything that you need him to do. … It’s really difficult for him to get an opportunity when we have a 15-man roster and everybody is healthy. You have to be in uniform to have a chance to play in the first place. The best thing he can do is like everybody else, it’s that, you never know how a season progresses. C.J. [McCollum] is out, if somebody else is out now he comes on the active roster and situationally it’s conceivable that he can get in and play. I’d love for him to get a chance on the court. It’s just difficult right now.”

In Claver’s NBA career, he has played in 70 games, averaging 3.3 points and 2.3 rebounds. Portland drafted Claver with the 22nd overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. Prior to joining the Blazers, he experienced success overseas, earning the Eurocup Rising Star award in 2010 while playing for Valencia, as well as winning two gold medals, a silver medal and a bronze medal while playing for Spain’s national team. Claver can become a restricted free agent this summer, if the Blazers extend him a $1,712,500 qualifying offer.

Pacers Waive Price

The Indiana Pacers announced they have waived guard A.J. Price.

via Pacers press release

Indiana had to waive a player in order to get their roster back to 15 players, as their second injury hardship exception from the NBA expired. The Pacers were allowed to add a 16th player for 10 days once four players were declared out.

The Pacers may have parted ways with Price, but he played well for the team during his 10-game stint. He averaged 10.5 points and 2.7 assists over the 10 games, shooting career-highs from the field (43.8 percent) and three-point range (38.5 percent).

He also helped Indiana win some games. The team had dropped four of five games before Price joined the team, but went 5-5 after he was added to the roster (despite all of the aforementioned injuries).

This was an excellent opportunity for Price to showcase his game and prove that he can be a significant contributor for an NBA team. Don’t be surprised if he inks a contract with another NBA team now that he’s an unrestricted free agent, or signs a lucrative deal overseas.

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Jeff Hawkins
Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins
Author photo
Jeff Hawkins Sports Editor

Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.

All posts by Jeff Hawkins