Odds & Ends: Lakers, Asik, Warriors
While trying to rationalize a sign-and-trade involving the Lakers sending Dwight Howard to the Warriors from L.A.'s point of view, Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com (Insiders only) writes that Golden State could possibly sweeten their offer by adding another expiring contract to the table while agreeing to take on the rest of Steve Nash's deal in return. If in fact Dwight decides to leave, Pelton thinks that acquiring expiring contracts, future first round picks, and a young talent like Harrison Barnes would be much more preferable than seeing their star free agent walk away for nothing.
Here are more of the rest of tonight's miscellaneous notes:
- Although 76ers GM Sam Hinkie chose not to comment much on the team's possible interest in Omer Asik, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes that Hinkie is very familiar with the Rockets big man, as he was part of Houston's front office when they signed him to a deal last summer.
- ESPN's Marc Stein tweets that the most notable aspect of the D12 rumors from the Warriors' perspective is how they'll deal with Andrew Bogut if their pursuit of Howard falls through. Matt Steinmetz of CSN Bay Area (via Twitter) adds David Lee, Barnes, and Klay Thompson to the list of players that will be owed an explanation as well.
- A number of the Mavericks' point guard targets – including Monta Ellis, Mo Williams, Jarrett Jack, Chauncey Billups, and Jose Calderon – remain on the free agent market, and Eddie Sefko of SportsDayDFW writes that the team is working behind the scenes with multiple agents regarding potential acquisitions. In another piece, Sefko details why Howard would fit and make a much needed positive impact in Dallas.
- Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times goes through the potential repercussions for the four teams that miss out on signing Howard this summer.
- John Canzano of The Oregonian endorses the under-the-radar moves Neil Olshey has completed recently for the Trail Blazers, even if they may not appeal to fans who were expecting a big splash thus far.
- Kevin Sherrington of SportsDayDFW says that there’s virtually no chance that Mark Cuban sells the Mavericks even if things don’t continue to go well, citing a tweet from the team owner himself.
- Jared Zwerling of ESPN NY recommends keeping an eye out for Reyshawn Terry and Toure Murry as players who could find themselves on an NBA team's radar soon (Twitter links). Terry, whom Zwerling thinks could be another team's 'Chris Copeland,' has reportedly played well overseas and could find himself on an NBA summer league team. Murry is currently on the Knicks' summer team and could be good enough to make a team's regular season roster.
- Earlier tonight, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE tweeted that the Mavericks were expected to see if the Celtics are more willing to trade Rajon Rondo now with Brad Stevens as the new head coach. However, with a report that Rondo is keeping an open mind to the hiring, it might not seem likely that Danny Ainge would be receptive to trade overtures just yet.
Warriors Increase Efforts To Pursue Dwight Howard
11:09pm: On the possibility that the Warriors complete some deals and Dwight still decides to sign elsewhere, one source tells Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group that there's no chance of that happening, as Golden State would presumably only follow through with cap-clearing trades if he were to commit to them. Thompson II also says that even if the Warriors were to agree to some deals, they could still cancel them before the moratorium ends if Howard decides to head elsewhere.
9:41pm: Earlier tonight, Heisler (via Twitter) cited a Lakers source who said that the team would consider a combination of Curry, Barnes, or Thompson to go along with Bogut and a number one draft pick in a sign-and-trade for Howard, although Golden State hasn't offered any three of those young players.
6:52pm: Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times says that the Lakers aren't actively looking for a sign-and-trade and still hope that Howard returns. If he were to be included in a deal, L.A. would want young talent in return and would have to find a third team to take on any expiring contracts. If the Lakers were to complete a trade with the Warriors and take back expiring contracts, they would still be accountable for roughly the same tax bill that they'd face if they were to successfully re-sign Howard, which is why they wouldn't want any expiring deals in return. Pincus adds that the Lakers would rather have Pau Gasol and Jordan Hill constitute their frontcourt than have to pay an additional $50MM in luxury tax in return for dealing Dwight (All Twitter links).
6:12pm: According to Brian Windhorst and Marc Stein of ESPN, sources with knowledge of the Warriors' thinking report that Golden State has begun aggressively shopping their players in an attempt to clear enough salary cap space to land Dwight Howard. Stein tweets that although no move would be easy for the Warriors, the team felt "emboldened" by the impression that they made on the free agent big man during their meeting with him this week, enough to where it is believed that they had gained ground on the Rockets and Mavericks.
As currently constructed, the Warriors chances at landing the star center primarily involved convincing the Lakers to agree to a sign-and-trade, although Windhorst and Stein make note that Los Angeles would prefer to let Dwight walk and preserve cap space for next summer – in addition to not being so open to helping him land on a division rival. With that in mind, Golden State is now trying to shop expiring contracts to teams with cap space in order to create enough room to sign Howard outright. Such expiring deals include those of Andris Biedrins ($9MM), Richard Jefferson ($11M), and Andrew Bogut ($14MM), and sources say that the franchise has tried to unload all three this week.
It is reported that Golden State would be willing to include a future first round pick in order to sweeten a potential deal, but they may also have to consider dealing away some of their promising young players – such as Harrison Barnes or Klay Thompson – in order complete a trade. Stein and Windhorst write that when the Warriors had tried to attempt to offload a large contract last year, prospective trading partners tended to include Barnes or Thompson into the discussion.
Mark Heisler of Sheridan Hoops (via Twitter) cites a source who indicates that if a sign-and-trade were to materialize between the Lakers and Warriors, L.A. would insist that Stephen Curry, Thompson, or Barnes would have to be involved. According to Stein and Windhorst, a source close to the situation says that Dwight is expected to make his decision by tomorrow. All things considered, it'll be quite intriguing to see if and what the Warriors can try to come up with until then.
Pistons Considering Will Bynum, Calderon, Billups
Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News writes that the Pistons will explore their free agent options next week with Will Bynum, Jose Calderon, and former NBA champion Chauncey Billups. While the notion of bringing back both Bynum and Calderon to Detroit may seem far-fetched, Goodwill reports that the team will explore both options and that it isn't necessarily an either/or proposition.
Billups, who at once had a strained relationship with Joe Dumars following his trade to Denver in 2008, had reportedly buried the hatchet with Dumars recently and could serve as a veteran leader on a fairly young Pistons squad if signed. Not to mention that Rasheed Wallace had been in talks to join Detroit's coaching staff last week, which could only entice the soon to be 37-year-old point guard to reunite with his former teammate. Though Billups had some setbacks with injuries in recent years, we heard earlier today that he still plans to play for at least two more seasons.
We've covered Calderon quite a bit today, though as it relates to this scenario, the fact that he shares the same agent as Bynum could be a factor should the Pistons decide to try keeping them both. While Bynum has drawn interest from the Knicks and Bulls, the Pistons should still have the ability to make the most competitive financial offer with their ample cap room.
Chris Copeland Undecided On Offer Sheets
Marc Berman of the New York Post (via Twitter) reports that free agent forward Chris Copeland has not decided on an offer sheet as of yet. Aside from the Pacers and Jazz, the Lakers remain very much in the picture, although Berman implies that L.A. has their focus on resolving the Dwight Howard situation first. Earlier today, we heard that Copeland had at least three offer sheets on the table, and while the Cavaliers seemed to be one of the three suitors, it appears that Utah may have been the third team Berman was alluding to.
The rumors swirling around Jose Calderon's possible interest in joining the Lakers could theoretically have an effect on whether or not Copeland would sign with the purple and gold, since Calderon would likely command the mini-MLE or a significant portion of it. Yesterday, we relayed the reported mutual interest between Copeland's camp and the Jazz, and that Copeland's agent expected more discussions with Utah. While the Pacers have a portion of their $5.15MM MLE to make a competitive offer, the Jazz have more than enough cap room to make a significant bid as well.
Jose Calderon Interested In Lakers
9:04pm: Kennedy tweets that he'd expect Calderon to join the Lakers if Howard decides to return to Los Angeles.
8:54pm: Hoopsworld's Alex Kennedy hears that Howard and Calderon are interested in playing together, and that Calderon may wait on Howard's decision before signing a contract. Kennedy also mentions that it wasn't a coincidence that rumors of Dwight going to Houston were subsequently followed by a rumor which speculated a Jeremy Lin for Calderon swap (Twitter links).
7:40pm: Jabari A. Davis of Hoopsworld (via Twitter) hears that free-agent point guard Jose Calderon is interested in joining the Lakers, but is waiting to see if Dwight Howard re-signs with the team first. Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times tweets that Howard's decision could have an effect on Pau Gasol's future in L.A., which may ultimately affect Calderon's desire to join the team. Just over a year ago, the Spanish point guard – a potential candidate to be amnestied by the Raptors at the time – was reportedly excited at the prospect of playing with his former Olympic teammate on the Lakers.
Calderon, who ultimately decided not to sign with the Kings for the sake of avoiding a rebuilding situation, still plans to continue negotiating with other teams and hasn't ruled out a return to the Pistons. While one might find it puzzling that Calderon wouldn't consider Detroit a rebuilding team either, Matt Watson of SB Nation writes of the possibility that he might think that they're capable of reaching the playoffs next season.
Looking at their point guard situation, the Lakers have Steve Nash and Steve Blake under contract next season and recently released Chris Duhon. With Nash having battled some injuries last year, it's not far-fetched to think that the Lakers would be mutually interested in Calderon at this point. However, with the team's options relegated to the mini-MLE and veteran's minimum contracts, it remains to be seen if the 31-year-old point guard (who made $10.5MM last season) would ultimately take a large pay cut considering this could be his final lucrative contract in the NBA, not to mention that the Lakers have many other free agents on their radar that may garner a portion or all of their mini-MLE.
Eastern Notes: 76ers, Rondo, Stevens, Copeland
As we continue further into the offseason, the 76ers remain the only NBA team without a head coach. When asked today if the team had begun interviewing head coaching candidates, GM Sam Hinkie was quick to avoid much comment, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Pompey points out that their head coaching search might not conclude until after the summer league, and that Michael Curry – one of the candidates for the job – is leading their summer league roster. He also writes that Spurs assistant Brett Brown could still figure to be another candidate, along with other NBA assistant coaches – David Fizdale of the Heat, Melvin Hunt of the Nuggets, and Chris Finch and Kelvin Sampson from the Rockets – who were at some point tied to the job as well.
Here are some more news and notes out of the Eastern Conference:
- A source close to Rajon Rondo says that the 27-year-old point guard is approaching the Celtics' hiring of Brad Stevens with an open mind, tweets Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe.
- Washburn wonders if Stevens would considering bringing his former assistants from Butler – namely Matthew Graves (who was recently named the coach of South Alabama in March) and Drew Cannon – onto his coaching staff in Boston, noting that there may be an update on Cannon tomorrow (Twitter links).
- Bob Finnan of The News-Herald confirms that Cavaliers assistant general manager David Griffin reached out to forward Chris Copeland and his agent yesterday. Finnan isn’t sure that the team would look to sign him with Clark now on board, but notes that the team does have the flexibility to sign both players.
- Eric Pincus of Hoopsworld speculates that Brandon Jennings could be a candidate to play the upcoming year on a qualifying offer for the Bucks and become an unrestricted free agent next summer (Sulia link).
- With the market for small forwards drying up, the Cavs had to overpay a little bit in order to secure Earl Clark from free agency, tweets Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal. Though with Cleveland holding a team option for Clark’s second year, Lloyd adds that the team still has a chance to keep some flexibility next summer.
- Jan Vesely would still like to remain in the NBA once his contract expires with the Wizards after this year, according to his agent Alex Raskovic (hat tip goes to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando via Twitter).
- J. Michael of CSN Washington thinks that it would be wise for the Wizards to pass on a possible reunion with Antawn Jamison.
- In addition to Maz Trakh, John Loyer, and Bernard Smith, the Pistons are expected to add another assistant coach to Maurice Cheeks' staff on Sunday, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
Western Notes: Cousins, Nedovic, Gordon
According to Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears, Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro, head coach Michael Malone, and team majority owner Vivek Ranadive visited DeMarcus Cousins in Alabama today. Though an extension is yet to be agreed upon, D'Alessandro told Yahoo that he is confident in Cousins as the face of the Kings' franchise (Twitter links). For a while, it seemed that Cousins' future in Sacramento was in limbo, as he had recently kept mum on the franchise at the behest of his agent Dan Fegan. Last month, Fegan reportedly wanted to negotiate a maximum deal for Cousins with the threat of a trade demand if a deal wasn't reached, and we also heard that D'Alessandro had planned to meet with Cousins in person at some point. Today's meeting could only bode well for the prospects of the 22-year-old center remaining in Sacramento for the long-term.
Here are more news and notes out of the Western Conference tonight:
- Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News tweets that the Warriors would likely have to keep Nemanja Nedovic – their 2013 first-round pick – in Europe this upcoming season as one pre-requisite of clearing enough space to sign Dwight Howard.
- CBS Sports’ Matt Moore writes that following the three-team deal between the Pelicans, Kings, and Trail Blazers, New Orleans hasn’t given any indication that they plan to trade Eric Gordon. He also thinks that Robin Lopez is a perfect fit next to LaMarcus Aldridge, and lauds the fact that the Portland won’t have to surrender a big contract in order to land him.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA tweets that if the Lakers were to match Earl Clark’s $4.5MM a year deal from the Cavaliers, it would cost them roughly $11.3MM with taxes in order to keep him, and therefore would be too steep a price.
- Hoopsworld’s Eric Pincus notes that any free agent signing that the Lakers make will carry a hefty luxury tax bill along with them, though if Dwight Howard were to ultimately leave, the team’s tax multiplier would significantly decrease. This puts the franchise in a tricky situation: if they don’t want to commit to a player for more than a year, they’d have to overpay in year one; if they were to overpay, the team would face massive luxury tax implications (All Twitter links).
Odds & Ends: Blazers, Iguodala, Knicks, Morrow
Now that the Trail Blazers have struck a deal to acquire a big man (Robin Lopez), the team figures to move on to address other needs. As Jason Quick of the Oregonian tweets, Portland's focus could shift to a wing player next, with Francisco Garcia, Matt Barnes, and Corey Brewer representing possible targets.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the Association:
- Andre Iguodala will likely make a decision on a team early next week, according to Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).
- The Knicks are likely out of the running for Matt Barnes and Nate Robinson now that the team no longer has its full mini mid-level exception, tweets Zwerling.
- Before they agreed to sign C.J. Watson, the Pacers expressed interest in Robinson, says Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld (via Twitter).
- Kennedy also tweets that free agent shooter Anthony Morrow has been in contact with the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Rockets, and Knicks.
- A source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link) that the Mavericks weren't willing to commit $8MM a year to J.R. Smith, let alone $10MM. The market for Smith was fairly modest, according to Berman.
- Jared Dudley wasn't looking to be traded out of Phoenix, and is open to returning to the Suns at some point down the road. But as he tells Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, if the Suns were going to move him, Dudley couldn't have asked for a much better fit than the Clippers.
Stein’s Latest: Nets, Spurs, Cavs, Belinelli, Neal
In between arguments about the relative merits of In-N-Out Burger, ESPN.com's Marc Stein has found time this afternoon to pass along several nuggets related to free agency. Here are the highlights from the ESPN.com scribe's Twitter account:
- The Nets are still targeting point guards, with Shaun Livingston and John Lucas III among the players on the team's radar, says Stein (via Twitter). The club lost C.J. Watson to the Pacers in free agency.
- Prior to agreeing to sign with the Spurs, Marco Belinelli had a more lucrative offer on the table from the Cavaliers, says Stein, adding that Belinelli couldn't resist the lure of the Spurs' "all-world operation" (Twitter link).
- There are "strong indications" that restricted free agent Gary Neal won't be returning to the Spurs, which is why the team moved quickly to bring Belinelli aboard, tweets Stein. According to Stein (via Twitter), Neal is receiving interest at a price point that San Antonio is reluctant to match.
Dwight Howard Notes: Rockets, Lakers, Mavs
Plenty of you weighed in on yesterday's poll asking where Dwight Howard would eventually sign, and there was a fairly solid consensus: About half of nearly 3,500 voters believe Howard will end up in Houston, while the Lakers, Mavericks, Warriors, and Hawks (in that order) combined for the other half of the votes. One former Rocket great is in agreement with Hoops Rumors readers, as Hakeem Olajuwon told ThePostGame.com that he believes there's an "85% chance" Howard signs with Houston.
"You never know," Olajuwon added. "But after that meeting we had, I feel very comfortable that we have the best chance to get him."
Here are a few more Thursday links related to the biggest name on the free agent market:
- Sources close to Howard tell ESPN.com's Chris Broussard (Twitter link) that Kobe Bryant's reported pitch, in which he proposed teaching the All-Star center how to become a champion, will be a "complete turn-off" for Howard.
- As Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News points out, since deals can't officially be signed until July 10th, the team Howard chooses shouldn't rest easy until that contract is finalized, given how indecisive D12 has been in the past.
- Yesterday, Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com passed along a Howard-related conspiracy theory (via Twitter), which suggested that all the Houston buzz is a smokescreen and that the big man has been ticketed for Dallas all along. Today, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com explains why it's easy to shoot holes in that theory.