Mavericks Interested In Trading For Rajon Rondo
4:09pm: Two sources tell Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald that the Mavs and Celtics haven't engaged in any trade talk about Rondo, with one of the sources calling the notion "ridiculous."
2:11pm: The Celtics want Dirk Nowitzki in return for Rondo, and that's gummed up trade talks between the teams, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Celtics are interested in Mavs draft acquisition Shane Larkin, too, notes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
2:05pm: The Mavericks are interested in acquiring Rajon Rondo from the Celtics, a source confirms to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com originally reported the Mavs' engagement in talks with Boston. The Mavs would love to acquire Rondo as part of a recruiting effort to land Dwight Howard, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, but Wojnarowski cautions that the Celtics would require the Mavs to absorb multiple contracts as part of a trade. Taking back salary along with Rondo could make it difficult, if not impossible, for the Mavs to sign Howard.
Rondo has $24,863,636 left over the final two seasons of a team-friendly contract that ends in 2015. Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told reporters Thursday that his team will not trade Rondo, but that won't stop the Mavs from asking, Washburn writes. Once the 2013/14 season officially starts in July, Dallas will have the cap space necessary to absorb Rondo's contract without taking on any other players. Still, Washburn figures the Mavs will want to send Shawn Marion's contract to the C's along with a younger player and a draft pick to entice Ainge into making a deal. Given Wojnarowski's report, I'm not so sure the Celtics would want Marion, but that's just my speculation.
The Mavs figure to have about $36MM in guaranteed salaries for next season, leaving just about enough room to sign Howard. Taking on Rondo without giving up an equal amount of salary in return wouldn't leave enough space for Howard or any other maximum-salary free agent, so I don't think a Rondo-Howard collaboration is likely in Dallas, unless the Mavs can engineer a series of other moves.
Rockets To Meet With Dwight Howard First
The Rockets will meet with Dwight Howard late Sunday night in Los Angeles, soon after teams other than the Lakers become eligible to negotiate with the free agent center, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The same can't be said for Golden State, as a source close to Howard tells Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game that the sought-after free agent center won't visit the Warriors to hear a pitch from the team (Sulia link). An earlier report indicated that the Warriors were hoping to sit down with Howard, and that he was likely to indulge them on their request.
Houston's contingent will include GM Daryl Morey, coach Kevin McHale, owner Les Alexander, Hall-of-Fame Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon and current Rockets James Harden and Chandler Parsons, Goodman writes. The Rockets have emerged as the front-runner in the last few weeks for the famously indecisive Howard, whose most serious suitors appear to be Houston, the Mavs and the Lakers, according to Bucher. Parsons has said he's been in contact with Howard every day this spring.
The Warriors don't have cap space for 2013/14, so the only way they could acquire Howard would be via sign-and-trade as Bucher points out. Even if the Lakers agree to such a maneuver, the Warriors would have to send back close to $20MM in salary to make the deal work with a max contract for Howard, which could gut a roster that made it to the Western Conference semifinals last season.
The Hawks don't make much sense for Howard, Bucher writes, adding that Howard may listen to a pitch from Atlanta simply so he's not seen rejecting the notion of coming to his hometown team out of hand.
Marreese Speights Opts Out
Marreese Speights has declined his $4,515,000 player option for next season with the Cavs and will become a free agent, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Cleveland acquired Speights as part of a three-for-one deal with the Grizzlies in January. The Cavs have no intention of re-signing him, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link).
An April report indicated that the Cavs felt Speights did not fit their culture, and that they were hoping he would opt out, so it sounds like they got their wish. The 25-year-old big man averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in his 39-game stint with Cleveland, numbers that would have been career highs if stretched over a full season. Still, with No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett joining a crowded frontcourt that also includes Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao and Tyler Zeller, there may not have been many minutes left over for Speights.
The move will leave the Cavs with $27.5MM in guaranteed salary for next season, so Cleveland would have wound up with plenty of cap room regardless of Speights decision.
Zgoda On Wolves, Mayo, Stiemsma, Kirilenko
Andrei Kirilenko's decision to opt out of his contract could be something of a game-changer for the Wolves, since it frees up more than $10MM of salary for next season. That means the team has greater flexibility to pursue a new starting shooting guard or small forward through trade or free agency, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, pointing to O.J. Mayo as a likely target. President of basketball operations Flip Saunders has said that re-signing restricted free agent Nikola Pekovic is the club's primary offseason goal, and Zgoda looks at what could come next for the Wolves:
- Minnesota will waive Greg Stiemsma before his contract becomes fully guaranteed on July 17th, according to Zgoda. I'd imagine the team will try to find takers for Stiemsma's contract in trades before then, though that's just my speculation. There's no partial guarantee on his deal, so the Wolves won't owe him anything if he's off their roster by the 17th of next month.
- The Wolves aren't likely to offer more than two seasons in another contract for Kirilenko.
- Zgoda wrote earlier this month that either J.J. Barea or Luke Ridnour was likely to be traded by draft night, and while that didn't happen, the team was in talks with the Bucks about a Ridnour/Ekpe Udoh swap this week. The Wolves still trying to trade one or both of Barea and Ridnour, according to Zgoda.
- The Wolves would like to include the minimum-salary deal of Chris Johnson in a Barea or Ridnour trade, too.
- Saunders is expected to meet with free agent small forward Chase Budinger in San Diego to talk about a new deal.
Odds & Ends: Howard, Korver, Thunder
The Lakers are in limbo as they await Dwight Howard's free agent decision, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The situation isn't entirely new to L.A. though as they went through a similar in 2004 when Kobe Bryant gave some thought to leaving the team but staying in the same building by signing with the Clippers. Ultimately, an eleventh-hour phone call from the late Jerry Buss kept him in purple-and-gold. Here's the latest from around the Association..
- The Nets are among the club's with interest in Kyle Korver but they're far from alone in that, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Brooklyn's extremely high payroll also limits them in their pursuit of the free agent sharpshooter.
- The Thunder's draft was underwhelming to some, but star Kevin Durant likes OKC's haul and believes that most of the criticism comes from a lack of name recognition, writes Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman. The Thunder took Pitt center Steven Adams at No. 12, traded up three spots to take Colorado forward Andre Roberson at No. 26, took Alex Abrines out of Spain at No. 32, and acquired Grant Jerrett, originally the 40th pick out of Arizona by Portland.
- Undrafted free agent Laurence Bowers will play for the Grizzlies' summer league team, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (on Twitter). The Missouri forward has promise but is viewed as a tweener.
Andrei Kirilenko To Opt Out
Andrei Kirilenko is opting out of his deal with the T’Wolves, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter). The Russian will hit the open market rather than earn $10.22MM with Minnesota next season.
We’ve heard that the Wolves would like to bring Kirilenko back, but aren’t keen on a deal that would pay him $10MM+ per season. Kirilenko’s opting out may not be a sign that he is expecting a deal with an AAV beyond $10MM, but the 32-year-old could be seeking something in that neighborhood on a multi-year deal.
If the Wolves do not retain Kirilenko, they could be left with a decent chunk of cap space this summer. With AK off of the books, the Wolves have roughly $39MM in guaranteed salary for next season. Of course, the Wolves will have to commit a considerable amount of money to Nikola Pekovic if they decide to match his offer sheet. All indications are that the club wants to retain the 27-year-old.
New York Notes: Nets, Garnett, Knicks, Howard
Here's the latest out of New York, where the Nets have managed to capture the backpages of the tabloids..
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov isn't afraid to gamble with the team's future in order to win right now, writes Roderick Boone of Newsday. While Garnett and Pierce can't be expected to produce as they did in their primes, something has to be said for Brooklyn's gusto in acquiring them.
- The Knicks' summer league squad, which will feature Iman Shumpert and rookie Tim Hardaway Jr., figures to be among the best this year, writes Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com.
- The Nets dodged a bullet by not landing Dwight Howard last summer, writes Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Lawrence would prefer to see Kevin Garnett crawling up and down the Nets' court rather than watch the inconsistent efforts of Howard.
- According to the Jerusalem Post, Amare Stoudemire is in talks to join a group purchasing Israeli basketball club Hapoel Jerusalem. The big man spent a portion of the 2010 offseason exploring his Jewish roots in Israel.
Celtics Notes: Rondo, Garnett, Pierce
In theory, Danny Ainge is wise to get something for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, but Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter) wonders how much a trio picks in the 20s will help the Celtics going forward. Here's more out of the Atlantic..
- The Celtics might not be all that bad next season, opines Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe. The main factor, several league sources said, is All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo. If Rondo, who is returning from a major injury, is determined enough, then some believe that he can will the weakened C's into the postseason.
- The end of the Big Three era in Boston isn't about loyalty, writes Zach Harper of CBSSports.com. Time had run its course in Boston and there wasn't much of an alternative for Ainge & Co.
- Earlier today, we learned that Keith Bogans will see a substantial raise when he joins Boston in mid-July.
Keith Bogans To Get $5MM In 2013/14
There's still a lot of debate over who the winner is in the Nets/Celtics swap, but one player in the deal has undoubtedly come out on top. Keith Bogans, who earned just $854K with the Nets last season, will see a substantial raise next season thanks to being included in the deal in a sign-and-trade.
In order to make the numbers work, the veteran will earn $5MM next season with the Celtics under his new contract, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. The guard/forward will get a three-year deal, so it will be roughly $15MM over three seasons , with the final two unlikely to be guaranteed (link).
By Pincus' math (link), the Celtics will also receive a $7.37MM trade exception in the swap for part of Kevin Garnett's salary. None of these numbers are set in stone, however, as they are only approximations until the deal can be consummated on July 10th.
The early thinking on Bogans' contract is that he is allowed to receive up to the average league salary as a player with bird rights, which comes out to roughly $5.2MM (link). However, a raise of 20% or more in his salary triggers the Base Year Compensation rule of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is designed to prevent teams from using players in a sign-and-trade for the express purpose of salary matching.
Under BYC, the player's outgoing salary is either his previous salary or 50% of his new salary, whichever is greater. Bogans will see ~$5MM in 2013/14 under the new deal, but his salary for the purposes of the trade will be calculated as ~$2.5MM. Regardless, the 33-year-old will see a raise of about $4.2MM next season thanks to the blockbuster deal.
Nets Interested In Jason Collins, Kyle Korver?
SATURDAY, 8:11am: While two reports have shot down the Nets' potential interest in Collins, a source confirmed to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News that the club has discussed signing the center, despite not really having a need for another big man.
FRIDAY, 7:34pm: Tim Bontemps of the New York Post also hears the Nets have no interest in signing Collins, backing up Broussard's report (below). In addition, Wojnarowski's story appears to have been updated to reflect that the team may not be as interested in Collins as it had been now that Reggie Evans is no longer a part of Brooklyn's mega-deal with the Celtics.
1:55pm: The Nets also have interest in signing free agent sharpshooter Kyle Korver, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. It's unlikely that Korver would sign for the minimum, but perhaps the Nets could lure him to Brooklyn with their $3.18MM mini mid-level exception.
Of course, as Ken Berger of CBSSports.com notes (via Twitter), the Nets will be so far in the tax next season that a $3MM mid-level player could end up costing the team in the neighborhood of $15MM in total.
Meanwhile, a source tells ESPN.com's Chris Broussard that it's "very doubtful" the Nets sign Collins (Twitter link).
12:58pm: Now that they've reached an agreement with the Celtics to acquire Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Jason Terry, the Nets are looking to fill out their roster with minimum-salary veterans to avoid increasing their tax bill even more. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, one target for a bench spot in Brooklyn will be free agent big man Jason Collins.
Collins, 34, has a history with new head coach Jason Kidd and new assistant Lawrence Frank, as Kidd and Collins were teammates on Frank's Nets teams several years ago. Wojnarowski writes that there's reason to believe Collins would have a "strong comfort level" in returning into an organization that knows him well and values his defense and his tough style of play.
The Celtics had Collins on their roster for part of the 2012/13 season before sending him to Washington in a deadline trade, so Garnett, Pierce, and Terry are former teammates of the veteran center as well. According to Wojnarowski, KG was "extremely frustrated" when Collins was dealt to the Wizards in February.
Collins made public his sexuality earlier this year, making him the first openly gay male athlete in a major North American sport. The announcement came after the regular season ended, so Collins didn't technically become the NBA's first active gay player, but he could earn that distinction if he ends up signing with Brooklyn this summer.