Nate Robinson Likely To Part Ways With Bulls
Nate Robinson and his camp have "already made it clear with the Bulls" that the two sides figure to part ways this summer, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. Robinson is set to hit the open market as an unrestricted free agent next week, and will be seeking a multiyear contract.
Cowley notes that Robinson would also be open to a one-year deal if he lands in a situation where he'll play major minutes. However, that's not likely to be the case in Chicago, with Derrick Rose on the way back. With Rose, Kirk Hinrich, and Marquis Teague at the point, the Bulls have some interest in re-signing Robinson, but would view him as an insurance policy at both backcourt positions, rather than as someone who will earn significant playing time again, says Cowley.
When Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors examined Robinson's free agent stock earlier this month, he noted that there wouldn't be much room for the 29-year-old in the Bulls backcourt, and suggested that a contending team looking to spend part or all of its mid-level exception on a backup point guard might be a fit.
Ray Allen Exercises Player Option
Ray Allen has exercised his 2013/14 player option and will return to the Heat, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (via Twitter). Earlier this afternoon, we heard that Allen was expected to remain in Miami one way or another. Rather than opting out and negotiating a new deal, the 37-year-old sharpshooter will simply play out the final year of the contract he signed last summer.
Now that Allen has opted in, all four Heat players with options are set to return to the team for '13/14. James Jones and Rashard Lewis also picked up their respective player options, while the Heat exercised Mario Chalmers' team option.
Allen's player option is worth approximately $3.23MM, adding another guaranteed contract to Miami's books for next season. The team's projected salary now sits at over $85MM, a figure that doesn't include Jarvis Varnado's non-guaranteed contract or Chris Andersen's cap hold.
Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors
As we've outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Hoops Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, and RSS. If you don't want to follow all the site's updates, you can follow team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don't have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, you can also easily follow all our updates on your favorite player.
If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Josh Smith during his free agency, you can visit this page. If you're interested in keeping tabs on what the Clippers will decide to do with trade candidate Eric Bledsoe this offseason, you can find his page right here.
Every player we've written about has his own rumors page. You can find your player of choice by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post where he's discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Smith's page is located at hoopsrumors.com/josh-smith.
In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags we use at the bottom of posts. Items related to the 2016 Olympics, for instance, can be found on this rumors page. If you want to continue to follow updates on Seattle's attempts to bring an NBA team back to the city, those are all available here.
Ray Allen Expected To Remain With Heat
Ray Allen's player option is one of the few remaining option decisions we haven't heard about one way or the other this week. While there's an expectation that Allen will opt out, Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida hears from a source that the veteran shooter is unlikely to leave the Heat.
"Both sides want to make it happen," said the source, referring to Allen remaining in Miami.
Allen's 2013/14 option is worth about $3.23MM, but if he were to opt out and re-sign with the Heat, he could get a slight raise on that figure. Allen's Non-Bird rights would allow him to sign for up to 120% of his previous salary, meaning he could get a new starting salary worth up to about $3.71MM if the Heat were willing to accommodate that.
If he were to opt out, Allen could also potentially secure another multiyear deal — Tomasson suggests that it wouldn't be a surprise for the Heat to re-sign the 37-year-old to a two-year contract, which would allow him to recoup some of the money he gave up when he turned down a more lucrative offer from the Celtics last summer.
Salaries For 2013 First-Round Picks
By now, you've likely had a chance to pore through last night's NBA draft results, taking stock of which teams did well and which teams made more questionable choices. As we move from the draft into free agency, it's also worth considering how last night's first-round picks will affect NBA teams' payrolls going forward. Clubs with multiple first-rounders, or high lottery picks, will see their draftees take a chunk out of any cap space they have heading into free agency.
The NBA's rookie scale dictates that specific cap holds are assigned to each pick heading into July. For instance, the first overall pick, Anthony Bennett, will represent a cap hold of $4,436,900 on the Cavaliers' books. Rookies are permitted to sign for up to 120% of that amount, however, and almost all of them do. So Bennett's eventual first-year salary is more likely to be $5,324,280 (120% of his rookie scale amount).
In the chart below (click for full size), we've listed each of the 30 draft picks, along with their cap holds and their likely first-year salaries. Now, not all of these players will receive the amount in the "likely salary" column here — some international prospects may be stashed overseas and not join their respective NBA teams for another season or two. Others, like Marquis Teague a year ago, could end up signing for less than 120% of their respective rookie-scale amounts. But the cap holds, at least, represent the amounts on teams' books heading into free agency.
RealGM.com's rookie scale chart was used in the creation of this post.
Ben Gordon To Exercise Player Option
To no one's surprise, Ben Gordon has decided to exercise his player option for 2013/14, keeping him under contract for one more season, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
Gordon's decision will ensure his $13.2MM salary becomes guaranteed for next year, significantly cutting into the Bobcats' available cap space. Charlotte acquired the veteran guard last summer for Corey Maggette, who would have hit free agency this offseason. In exchange for picking up the extra salary, the Bobcats should land a pretty attractive draft pick, especially if the Pistons continue to miss the postseason. The first-rounder Charlotte received in the Gordon/Maggette swap is top-eight protected in 2014 and top-one protected in 2015.
We heard last night that rival executives are skeptical the Celtics will keep Kris Humphries after acquiring him from the Nets, and Chris Mannix of SI.com said to keep an eye out for the Bobcats. Gordon and Humphries have been connected in trade rumors before, so it's possible, perhaps even likely, that Gordon won't spend the entire '13/14 season with the Bobcats.
Odds & Ends: 2014 Draft, CP3, Mavs, Warriors
About 12 hours after the 2013 NBA draft officially came to an end, ESPN.com's Chad Ford was already looking forward to 2014. Ford's latest Insider-only blog at ESPN.com takes a very early look at the '14 draft class, which several scouts and GMs believe could be one of the strongest ever. While Andrew Wiggins in the consensus top prospect for '14, the rest of Ford's top 100 is considered well above average as well, with Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Jabari Parker, and Andrew Harrison rounding out the top five.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Speaking of next year's draft, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports that the NBA is considering moving the event back at least a week next year, since the current setup doesn't leave much time between the Finals and draft night. However, the league doesn't want to postpone free agency and Summer League play significantly, so it's unclear whether or not the timing will work. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the draft happen a few weeks after the free agency period begins, but it doesn't sound like that's an option.
- Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show today, Doc Rivers said he talks to Chris Paul every day and that he believes CP3 wants to remain a Clipper (Twitter link via Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com).
- Dirk Nowitzki addressed reporters, including Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, on draft night and revealed that he has talked to Dwight Howard about the possibility of D12 signing with the Mavericks. "I reached out to him and told him we'd love to have him," Nowitzki said. "That's really about it. It's not like we call each other every day."
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News has an excellent in-depth look into what happened in the Warriors' draft room last night, detailing how happy the team was with the end result of its series of trades.
- Mike Brown's staff with the Cavaliers will include the following assistants, according to Bob Finnan of the News-Herald (via Twitter): Jim Boylan, Bernie Bickerstaff, Igor Kokoskov, Jamahl Mosley, Phil Handy, Vitaly Potapenko, and Bret Brielmaier.
Boris Diaw Exercises Player Option
FRIDAY, 1:31pm: Diaw's agent, Doug Neustadt, confirms that his client is opting in, telling Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) that the letter has been sent to the team.
THURSDAY, 8:25pm: Boris Diaw expects to opt in for the final year of his contract with the Spurs, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Diaw's 2013/14 player option would pay him a guaranteed $4,702,500 if he exercises it.
Given Diaw's production in 2012/13 (5.8 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 11.9 PER), he'd be very unlikely to land a deal with a higher annual salary than the $4.7MM he'll receive from San Antonio, so it'd be pretty surprising if he decided to opt out. Assuming he makes the decision official, he'll become the second Spur to pick up his player option this week, as Patty Mills exercised his on Monday.
Bucks Make Qualifying Offer To Brandon Jennings
The Bucks have formally extended a qualifying offer to Brandon Jennings, GM John Hammond confirmed today (Twitter link via Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). Because Jennings met the starter criteria this past season, his QO will be worth $4,531,459, a slight bump up from what it would have been otherwise.
There have been a few rumblings lately suggesting the Bucks wouldn't mind signing-and-trading Jennings, or keeping Monta Ellis over him. However, Hammond indicated today that the team intends for Jennings to remain a Buck, according to Gardner (via Twitter). Hammond went on to say that the club hopes to negotiate with its young guard, and if a deal can't be reached with Jennings directly, the plan would be to match a rival offer sheet (Twitter links via Gardner).
It's unclear at this point whether Jennings prefers to stay in Milwaukee long-term or play elsewhere. While the Bucks have the majority of the control over his current situation, Jennings could accept his one-year qualifying offer, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. Jennings suggested back in March that he'd consider that possibility.
Wolves Exercise Option On Dante Cunningham
The Timberwolves have exercised their team option to retain Dante Cunningham for the 2013/14 season, the team announced today (Twitter link). The decision will ensure that Cunningham is guaranteed his $2.18MM salary for next year.
Cunningham, 26, was one of the few Wolves to stay healthy last season, appearing in 80 games for the club and recording averages of 8.7 PPG and 5.1 RPG. While Cunningham's production wasn't spectacular enough, it was solid enough to make him a good value at $2.18MM.
The Wolves will also face a couple more decisions on current players in July. Greg Stiemsma's $2.69MM salary for next year will be guaranteed if he's not waived on or before July 17th, while Mickael Gelabale's minimum-salary deal will be guaranteed if he's not released on or before July 22nd.