Karl Malone

Renounced Players: Thursday

We may be no longer in the early stages of free agency, but teams continue to clear cap space by renouncing their Non-Bird, Early Bird or full Bird rights to their own free agents to remove their cap holds from the books. Teams that renounce those rights no longer have the ability to exceed the cap to re-sign those players unless they use an exception like the mid-level or the biannual. Some of those decisions are more notable than others, but for completion’s sake, we’ll track the latest of these cap-clearing moves right here:

  • The Bulls have renounced their rights to Daequan Cook, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nazr Mohammed, Brian Scalabrine and Jimmer Fredette, reports Mark Deeks of Sham Sports (via Twitter).
  • The Mavericks have expunged the cap hold of Petteri Koponen and renounced their rights to Bernard James, reports Deeks (via Twitter).
  • The Lakers have renounced their rights to MarShon Brooks and Andrew Goudelock, according to Deeks (via Twitter).
  • The Lakers have also renounced the rights to John Salley, Karl Malone, Brian Shaw and other players not on the team last season, according to ESPN salary cap guru Larry Coon (via Twitter).
  • As Coon explains, the old CBA allowed Bird rights of players not on a team the previous year to be used in sign-and-trades. With that no longer the case under the current CBA, the rights to players like Salley, Malone and Shaw are no longer useful. The teams must still go through the formality of renouncing the rights, but tend not to do so until they actually need the cap space which, like in this case, could be years later (Twitter links are here).
  • With Salley’s rights renounced, Coon believes the oldest Bird rights still on the books might be Roshown McLeod with the Celtics (Twitter link).

Northwest Notes: Hickson, Wolves, Nuggets

With the Grizzlies and Warriors not playing their best ball as of late, another team has quietly passed them in the standings and assumed the fourth seed in the Western Conference: the Nuggets. Heading into tonight's game against the Bulls, Denver has won seven straight, and has posted a 21-3 record at home. The Lakers/Celtics matchup will draw most of the headlines, but it may be that late game at the Pepsi Center that turns into the evening's best contest.

As we look forward to tonight's action, here are a few notes out of the Northwest Division:

  • Although he's played out of position at center for much of the season, J.J. Hickson has excelled with the Trail Blazers, and is increasing his chances of landing a big deal in unrestricted free agency this summer, according to Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. "I’d be lying if I wasn’t looking forward to it, but that’s something I’ll get more excited about when that period hits," Hickson said. "It’s something that me and my agent will talk about, but right now I’m just worried about playing basketball and trying to make these playoffs."
  • Commissioner David Stern is involved in Minnesota's plan to refurbish the Target Center and remains apprised on Glen Taylor's process of eventually selling the Timberwolves, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune writes.
  • In his latest mailbag for the Denver Post, Benjamin Hochman fields multiple questions on trade possibilities for the Nuggets, discussing Timofey Mozgov, Jordan Hamilton, and the team's $13MM trade exception.
  • Karl Malone is willing to work for free if it means getting a chance to join the Jazz's coaching staff as an assistant, says Jody Genessy of the Deseret News.