Lakers Rumors: Free Agency, Dwight, SGs
Boston Globe scribe Gary Washburn's weekly look around the NBA includes a dispatch from Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak's chat with reporters this week in which Kupchak made it clear that his team won't settle for second-tier free agents.
"I know at some point in time we’ll be able to put together a very competitive and attractive team," Kupchak said. "I don’t think this is a franchise that can take 15 years to build through the draft. The worst thing you can do is be burdened with contracts that are $6-$7-$8MM a year that go out three or four years and have average players, and you’re kind of stuck in the middle. You’re not going to get a good draft choice and you don’t have financial flexibility. So in my opinion, we’re probably best set up as we can be for the future."
While Kupchak ponders future Lakers, here's more on Lakers past and present:
- Dwight Howard appeared to waver on his choice to join the Rockets before it became official, but the ex-Laker insists to Sam Amick of USA Today that he was firm in his decision, and that his 11th-hour meeting with Kupchak was always part of the plan.
- The Lakers have loaded up on shooting guards to cover for Kobe Bryant, who's still without a timetable for his return from injury, as Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports examines.
- This is the final season on the contracts of most of the players on the Lakers roster, and that can either lead to motivated team play or selfish, stat-driven gunning, posits Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
Kings Bringing Hamady N’Diaye To Camp
Hamady N'Diaye will join the Kings in training camp for the second straight season. He's one of 17 players listed on the team's camp roster, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee passes along. The 7-footer has seen minimal regular season action in the NBA, logging a total of 83 minutes over two seasons for the Wizards.
The Kings waived N'Diaye before the regular season last fall, and he agreed to a deal with Tianjin of China the same day. He averaged 11.0 points and 8.9 rebounds in 31 games with the Chinese club last season, parlaying that into a summer-league stint with the Mavericks this past July.
N'Diaye joins DeQuan Jones as Kings with non-guaranteed contracts. Trent Lockett, another camp hopeful, has a partial guarantee of $35K on his deal.
Grizzlies Sign Byars, Ely, Gaffney
The Grizzlies have officially announced the signings of Derrick Byars, Melvin Ely and Tony Gaffney. It's confirmation of news we heard about Ely and Gaffney earlier this month. Memphis extended a training camp invitation to Byars this week, but it hadn't been clear whether he accepted. The trio of signees brings the Memphis roster to 18.
Byars also drew interest from the Knicks around the same time he worked out for the Grizzlies this month. He was a second-round draft pick of the Blazers in 2007, but Portland traded him to the Sixers on draft night and Philadelphia cut him in training camp that fall. The 6'7" swingman from Vanderbilt has also been to camp with the Thunder, Bulls and Heat over the years, but he only has a pair of games with the Spurs in 2011/12 on his official NBA resume. Last year he split the season between Caciques de Humacao in Puerto Rico and ALBA of Germany.
Byars, Ely and Gaffney are all presumably on non-guaranteed deals with the Grizzlies, as are Josh Akognon and Willie Reed. The team has 13 fully guaranteed contracts, so it's possible that none of the five camp invitees make the opening-night roster, but it seems like the most impressive of the bunch will remain with Memphis into the regular season.
Elliot Williams To Join Cavs For Camp
Elliot Williams has accepted an invitation to join the Cavaliers for training camp, giving him another chance to fulfill the promise that made him a 2010 first-round pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who confirms that the deal is non-guaranteed. Williams missed all of 2012/13 for the Trail Blazers after tearing his left Achilles tendon, and he didn't play in his rookie year because of surgeries on both knees.
Portland took Williams 22nd in the 2010 draft, but he wound up only appearing in 24 games with the club, all of them in 2011/12. The shooting guard from Memphis averaged just 3.7 points in 6.2 minutes per game during his time with the Blazers, who declined the fourth-year option on his rookie deal before last season. Williams didn't take part in NBA summer league action this year.
Fellow NBA veteran Jermaine Taylor appears set to take part in Cavs camp as well, so Williams will bring Cleveland's roster to 17 players. Williams is a client of Wasserman Media Group agent Thad Foucher, as the Hoops Rumors Agency Database shows.
Cavs Invite Jermaine Taylor To Camp
The Cavaliers have extended a camp invitation to former Kings and Rockets shooting guard Jermaine Taylor, agent Michael Whitaker tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It's not entirely clear from the tweet whether Taylor has accepted the invitation, but since the news is coming from Taylor's camp, it seems he'll likely become the 16th player on Cleveland's roster.
The move isn't entirely a surprise, since Taylor's performance for Cleveland's summer league team drew praise from Cavs coach Mike Brown. The 6'4" Taylor averaged 12.8 points in 18.1 minutes per game for the summer Cavs. He also suited up for the Bulls' summer league team this year. Aside from that action, Taylor has been out of the NBA since 2011. He had a whirlwind 2012/13, playing for Lagun Aro Gipuzkoa BC in Spain, Hapoel Tel Aviv in Israel, Shanxi Zhongyu in China and the Maine Red Claws of the D-League.
Assuming Taylor will be with the Cavs on a fully non-guaranteed contract, he'll join Kenny Kadji and C.J. Miles as the only Cavaliers without at least a partial guarantee. Eleven Cavs have fully guaranteed deals, and nearly half of Andrew Bynum's $12.25MM salary is guaranteed as well. That leaves Taylor with a decent shot at making the opening-night roster.
Lakers, Gasol Have Yet To Discuss Extension
Lakers big man Pau Gasol has dealt with trade rumors for years and as he enters the final season of his contract, he’s no closer to getting an assurance of job security. The Spaniard told reporters today that the Lakers have yet to approach him about a contract extension, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
“If the team is interested, they will approach me and at some point there will be some kind of meeting,” Gasol said. “But I’m not sure when or how. I think it’s going to depend on how I perform during the season. The better I perform, I’m sure the more interested they will be to try to sign me, I guess.“
Gasol averaged a career-low 13.7 PPG last year and his 46.6% rate from the floor was his worst of any season. He didn’t fare much better on the boards, averaging 8.6 rebounds per game, his lowest average since 2007/08.
On the plus side, Gasol reports that his knees feel a whole lot better after undergoing treatment for tendonitis. The veteran will earn $9.3MM in the final year of his contract.
Hoops Rumors Originals
Here's a roundup of the great original analysis produced by the Hoops Rumors staff this week..
- Luke examined what a max extension might look like for Paul George.
- Corey Maggette has the most experience of any training camp invitee, Chuck Myron writes.
- Most of you feel that the Knicks made a big mistake with their GM change.
- Luke provided an update on the 2013 rookie scale contract extensions.
- Go get the Hoops Rumors iPhone/iPad app!
- If you haven't already, check out our International Player Movement Tracker.
Northwest Notes: Corbin, Shaw, Nuggets, Jazz, Biedrins
Josh Howard's 2012/13 campaign with the Timberwolves lasted just eleven games before he tore his ACL and now he's looking to figure things out for the upcoming season. The forward, who was once a prominent member of the Mavs, has had good workouts with the Spurs and Rockets, but hasn't gotten a training camp invite yet. Here's today's look at the Northwest Division..
- Agent Steve Kauffman said he hasn't begun negotiating an extension for client Tyrone Corbin with the Jazz and tells Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune that he doesn't expect such a deal to get done. Instead, Kauffman would rather Corbin receive a new, long-term contract with the team next summer.
- Brian Shaw is obviously happy to have his head coaching opportunity, but life has gotten quite busy since he joined the Nuggets, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. "It's been crazy," Shaw said. "It's been unusual. I wouldn't have imagined all of the stuff that doesn't really have to do with basketball that I've had to do. I knew administratively it would be a little different than what I was accustomed to, with the obligations."
- While Andris Biedrins and Richard Jefferson are several years past their primes, the Jazz are hopeful they can bounce back to their old form and provide veteran savvy, writes Jody Gennesy of the Deseret News. Utah is also optimistic that Brandon Rush can be a "3 and D" player who can help stretch defenses with his outside shooting and guard opposing two-guards vigorously.
Southeast Notes: Beasley, Mason, Wiggins
Erik Spoelstra was scheduled to hit the open market after the 2013/14 season, but the Heat realized that he would have a red-hot market if that were to happen. Today, Miami locked the coach up with a contract extension that will keep him in place for years to come, even if the future of the Big Three isn’t certain at this juncture. Here’s the latest out of the Southeast..
- In today’s mailbag, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel was asked by a reader which “longshots” have the best chance of hooking on with the Heat. Michael Beasley seems pretty likely to get the 14th spot on the roster and Winderman likes Roger Mason Jr.’s chances of getting the final one, if the heat are willing to carry 15. It’s not a great year for non-guaranteed guys in Miami with 13 guaranteed contracts already on the payroll.
- Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel previews the season ahead for the Magic. Schmitz stops short of rooting for the team to tank, but he implores Orlando not to win too many games and hurt their chances of landing Andrew Wiggins in June.
- Guard Jeff Teague is excited about the new-look Hawks in 2013/14, writes HoopsWorld’s Alex Kennedy. Teague was left in limbo for a little while by Atlanta but ultimately re-signed on a four-year, $32MM deal. “I’m definitely glad [free agency] is over with,” Teague added. “I really didn’t think about it much last year, but during the summer it was a difficult time. I learned the whole business of basketball basically. I’m excited to have that done though.”
- There’s been a lot of change in Atlanta, but Al Horford is still a part of the Hawks after their makeover, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
International Notes: Ajinca, Ewing
We'll keep track of today's international news here..
- Former first-round pick Alexis Ajinca came up empty in his search for an enticing NBA offer and will return to play for Strasbourg of France this season, with eyes on a return to the NBA next summer, as Catch-and-Shoot.com reports (translation via Sportando's Enea Trapani).
- Patrick Ewing Jr. has decided to continue his career with Greece's Trikala, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Ewing has plied his craft around the world since finishing his college career at Georgetown, including a brief NBA stop in New Orleans in 2011.
- As always, you can keep track of all international player movement using Hoops Rumors' latest tracker.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.