Nenad Krstic Signs With CSKA Moscow
After spending seven seasons in the NBA with the Nets, Thunder, and Celtics, Nenad Krstic signed with CSKA Moscow last summer, with the lockout looming. A year later, Krstic has decided to re-up in Russia, as CSKA Moscow announced today (via Twitter) that it has signed the Serbian for two more years, with a team option for a third.
Odds & Ends: Magic, Smith, Haywood, Humphries
This year's amnesty period kicks off on Wednesday and this afternoon Larry Coon of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) ran down his candidates for each of the 23 teams that did not use the provision last year. Among the most likely to go are Mike Miller of the Heat and Darko Milicic of the T'Wolves. After that, there are a number of "jump ball" candidates such as the Mavs' Brendan Haywood. The waiving of Haywood once seemed like a foregone conclusion but after striking out on Deron Williams, Dallas is no longer starved for cap room. Here's more from around the Association..
Free Agent Rumors: Wallace, Grizzlies, Fisher
We're into the home stretch of the July moratorium, and it won't be long before all the moves that have been agreed upon in the last week are made official. In the meantime, teams have two more days to prepare for the next stage of free agency, and the rumors continue to swirl. You can track all of the contract agreements to date using our Free Agent Tracker, and you can follow many of today's free agent rumors right here, with the latest up top….
- There's a "pretty good chance" that Ben Wallace will return to the Pistons next season, a source tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
- A source told The Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that it's unlikely that the Grizzlies will sign Russian guard Alexey Shved. Shved allegedly received offers from the Grizzlies, Cavs, and T'Wolves.
- However, the Grizzlies are working to bring veteran guard Willie Green to Memphis, The Commercial Appeal tweets. The soon-to-be 31-year-old averaged 7.6 PPG last year for the Hawks.
Earlier updates:
Blazers Notes: Leonard, Batum, Barton
Earlier today, Portland General Manager Neil Olshey disclosed that he plans to move from the free agent market to the trade market as it appears that Roy Hibbert will be staying put in Indiana. Here's more on the Blazers..
Dwight Howard Rumors: Monday Night
The Magic and Nets are reportedly working to put together a multi-team deal that will send Dwight Howard to Brooklyn. The Cavaliers and Clippers could be a part of the mega-trade but nothing has been cemented yet and other clubs could be roped in to make the swap a reality. Here's the latest on D12 and the Magic..
Blazers Will Shift Focus To Trade Market
News broke earlier today that the Pacers intend to match Portland's offer to restricted free agent from Roy Hibbert, effectively taking the big center off the Trail Blazers' radar and off their projected salary cap. Indiana's decision leaves the Blazers with plenty of financial flexibility, even if they match Minnesota's offer sheet to Nicolas Batum. However, GM Neil Olshey tells Jason Quick of the Oregonian (Twitter link) that the Blazers expect to turn from the free agent market to the trade market if they can't sign Hibbert.
Latest On Four-Team Dwight Howard Talks
We've still got plenty of time left in the day, and our round-up of Dwight Howard rumors for Monday is already getting a little too lengthy. So rather than keep tacking on more details to it, let's round up what we know so far right here.
According to various reports, the Magic and Nets have engaged the Cavaliers and Clippers in talks to facilitate a deal involving Howard. There are a lot of moving parts, but the framework of the proposed deal looks something like this:
Dwight Howard Rumors: Monday
It may not be many more days until our long national Dwightmare is over. Yesterday's reports on Howard suggested talks involving the Magic, Nets, and Cavaliers were getting serious, and that Orlando plans to make "one last sweep" around the league before deciding whether to accept the Nets' offer. While we wait to see if anything is agreed upon today, here are the latest rumblings on the Howard front:
- Chad Ford's ESPN.com report includes some more slight tweaks to the framework described below. Ford adds Chris Duhon to the list of players headed to the Nets, suggests the Magic would receive one fewer first-rounder (a total of three instead of four), and says the Cavs would receive $3MM in cash.
- Ford's report, along with tweets from the Cleveland Plain Dealer and Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, suggest that the Cavs and Clippers still aren't entirely on board. The Plain Dealer tweets that talk of a deal getting close is premature, while Berger says the Clips haven't agreed to anything yet and are one of several potential fourth-team facilitators in the mix (Twitter links).
Earlier updates:
Blake Griffin Intends To Sign Max Extension
JULY 9TH: Griffin has been excused from Team USA practice today to take care of his contract extension, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Not that I'm accusing Griffin of playing hooky, but his extension can't become official until the moratorium ends, so it should still be a couple days before the deal is formally finalized.
JUNE 30TH: Blake Griffin has informed Clippers officials that he intends to sign a five-year contract extension with the team, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Team president Andy Roeser will formally make the offer when rules allow at 11pm Central time tonight, Shelburne says. Griffin is unable to sign the extension until July 11, when the moratorium period ends.
Kings Sign Thomas Robinson
The Kings have officially signed first-round pick Thomas Robinson to a rookie scale contract, the team announced today. Sacramento selected the Kansas power forward fifth overall.
The rookie scale amount for pick No. 5 is $2,812,200, but Robinson figures to sign for the maximum 120% permitted — that would mean a first-year salary of $3,374,640 for the reigning Big 12 Player of the Year.