2014 June | Hoops Rumors

West Rumors: Sterling, Williams, Afflalo, Miller

June 30th, 2014 at 8:02pm CST by Zachary Links

A new doctor has declared Clippers owner Donald Sterling mentally fit after a comprehensive medical examination in Las Vegas over the weekend, a source with knowledge of the situation told Shelby Lin Erdman of CNN. The testing was arranged by one of Sterling’s attorneys and conducted with one of the top dementia and Alzheimer’s disease specialists in the country. More out of the West..

Free agent Mo Williams has no meetings set with other teams and his “only goal” is to sign a new deal with the Blazers, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (on Twitter).
New Nuggets guard Arron Afflalo sounds intent on exercising his opt out after the 2014/15 season. “It’s probably something that I always anticipated, even beyond when I first signed this deal with Denver,” Afflalo told Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. “I knew my game, I knew my maturity, I knew I would grow as a player. And I wanted to have that option as I got older and I progressed as a player. So hopefully I’ll out-perform my contract and put myself in a better situation. That was my intent from the beginning, even before this year, was to play out the four years and progress as a player.”
Grizzlies swingman Mike Miller tells Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that he’s meeting with his agent tomorrow in Los Angeles before talking with four or five clubs. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies can prevent him from looking around if they come to him with the right deal.
A source tells Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (on Twitter) that there are four or five suitors out there for Jordan Hill, including the Rockets and Mavs. He’s not ruling out a Lakers return and will take his time through the process with an eye on a longer deal.
Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak says the club is putting Julius Randle through a series of physicals this week to test his foot though, right now, he doesn’t expect surgery, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
There is strong mutual interest in Vince Carter‘s return to the Mavericks, but several playoff teams are expected to express interest in the 37-year-old swingman, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The Heat, Thunder, Blazers, and Raptors are among the playoff teams that are seen as potential fits for VC, according to a source.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr is discussing an assistant coaching job on the staff with Luke Walton, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
Lakers unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore is expected to draw interest from the Hawks, Celtics, and Suns among others, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders.

Spurs Likely To Keep Austin Daye

June 30th, 2014 at 7:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The Spurs have the option of dumping Austin Daye‘s contract before the clock strikes midnight, but they’re going keep him instead, according to Shams Charania of RealGM. Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) first reported that the Spurs were not expected to waive Daye.

Daye is set to earn a little over $1MM next season but only $250K of that was guaranteed. Acquired in a trade in February, the 26-year-old averaged 4.1 points and 1.4 rebounds in 14 games for the Spurs. Daye has averaged 5.4 points and 2.7 rebounds over his five NBA seasons, including his time with the Pistons, Grizzlies, and Raptors.

Central Notes: Kidd, Frye, Stephenson, Nelson

June 30th, 2014 at 7:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Bucks co-owner Marc Lasry apologized to the fired Larry Drew over the Jason Kidd saga, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. I’m sure that made everything all better. Here’s the latest from the Central Division..

One free agent target for the Cavs is expected to be Channing Frye, writes Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer. Pluto also expects the Cavs to bring back unrestricted free agent Spencer Hawes.
Several sources have indicated to Candace Buckner of the Indy Star (on Twitter) that the Pacers will give Lance Stephenson the star treatment as they try to convince him to re-sign. The Pacers have even produced a movie in his honor to be shown once free agency officially kicks off at midnight ET.
John Denton of OrlandoMagic.com (on Twitter) fully expects Pistons president and coach Stan Van Gundy to reach out to Jameer Nelson in free agency. Both have tremendous respect for one another. With homes in Orlando and Philadelphia, Denton (link) expects him to consider teams close to those places like the Heat, Nets, Knicks, 76ers, and Wizards.
Nelson is prioritizing winning and wants to sign with a contender, tweets Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel.
If forward Nikola Mirotic is done with his team in Spain and headed this week to meet with the Bulls, that’s news to the team, writes Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times. According to one source, Chicago was not informed that Mirotic had grown disenchanted with Real Madrid and was ready to join them, as one international report indicated.

Free Agency Primer

June 30th, 2014 at 6:46pm CST by Chuck Myron

The clock is ticking down toward the start of free agency, and we at Hoops Rumors have been preparing for months to help you sort through the chaos that always ensues this time of year. Here’s a look at all of the ways you can find out more about NBA free agency through Hoops Rumors:

The Hoops Rumors 2014 Free Agent Tracker helps you stay on top of all the action, and as July unfolds, it will provide tools to sort free agents by team, salary, contract length and other variables.
Our 2014 Free Agents list shows this summer’s free agents alphabetically by position, and it will be continually updated as the names dwindle to give you an idea of who’s still available.
We previewed the summer for all 30 teams in our Offseason Outlook Series.
See how the top free agents stack up in our 2014 Free Agent Power Rankings, and how those rankings have evolved in the months leading up to the start of free agency.
Our Free Agent Stock Watch Series goes in depth on some of the most intriguing free agents, examining how the market is shaping up for each of them.
Agents will play a critical role in the weeks and months ahead, as always, and our Agency Database shows who’s representing whom.
We broke down how much money LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony can make if they sign maximum-salary contracts this year.
Our Hoops Rumors Glossary has you covered if you want clarity on the difference between Early Bird rights and Non-Bird rights, how much a team can spend using the Mid-Level Exception, or answers to a litany of other questions.

Sixers Waive James Anderson

June 30th, 2014 at 5:40pm CST by Zachary Links

The Sixers announced that they have waived guard James Anderson, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Media. Anderson’s salary would have become fully guaranteed if he was on the roster on July 1st, so Philly saves about $1MM by cutting him loose.

Anderson, a former first round pick of the Spurs, played in a career-high 80 games under former San Antonio assistant Brett Brown last season. Anderson averaged 10.1 PPG and 3.8 RPG with a PER of 10.9.

Pistons Decline Option On Chauncey Billups

June 30th, 2014 at 5:09pm CST by Zachary Links

The Pistons announced that they have declined Chauncey Billups‘ $2.5MM team option for next season. The move has long been expected.

Billups, 38 in September, saw just 19 games of action for the Pistons last season. His averages of 3.8 PPG and 2.2 APG in that limited run show that he is nowhere near the player that he once was. The veteran is reportedly leaning heavily toward retirement.

If this is indeed the end of the line for Billups, the guard has a long, productive career to look back on. Over the course of 17 seasons, Billups averaged 15.2 PPG and 5.4 APG while capturing a championship and earning upward of $100MM in salary.

The club also confirmed that they extended a qualifying offer to Greg Monroe.

Hoops Rumors Chat Transcript

June 30th, 2014 at 5:03pm CST by Chuck Myron

Click below to read this week’s chat transcript:

Magic Claim Willie Green

June 30th, 2014 at 4:50pm CST by Zachary Links

The Magic have claimed guard Willie Green off waivers, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (on Twitter). Green, of course, was recently waived by the Clippers.

The Clippers cut Green loose in advance of the date where his contract would have become guaranteed for the 2014/15 season. In 55 games last season (nine starts), Green averaged 5.0 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 15.8 minutes per contest.

Magic Waive Jameer Nelson

June 30th, 2014 at 3:20pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Magic have waived Jameer Nelson, the team announced via press release, confirming a report from Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. The team was facing a July 15th deadline to either waive him or guarantee his full $8MM salary. His $2MM partial guarantee for next season will remain on Orlando’s books.

Robbins suggests the move is a precursor to a pursuit of experienced players in free agency, perhaps speeding up Orlando’s slow-moving rebuild. The Magic waived Doron Lamb earlier today, traded Arron Afflalo last week, and are reportedly looking to rid themselves of Jason Maxiell, paving the way to plenty of cap flexibility.

The team’s acquisition of rookie point guard Elfrid Payton on draft night Thursday seemed a harbinger of Nelson’s departure. Nelson had nonetheless maintained his role of starting point guard even with the team experimenting with Victor Oladipo at the point last season. The 32-year-old has spent his entire 10-year NBA career with the Magic, and had been the last remaining player from the 2009 Finals team.

Nelson averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 assists against 2.4 turnovers in 32.0 minutes per game last season. The Steve Mountain client seems like a decent fit for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception of $3.278MM, or perhaps more if he’s willing to sign a short-term deal.

Eastern Notes: Irving, Nets, Bucks, Raptors

June 30th, 2014 at 2:29pm CST by Chuck Myron

David Blatt‘s hiring as Cavs coach elicited conversations between Kyrie Irving and the team that were more positive in tone than any others to date, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Cavs officials are heading to Irving’s home in New Jersey to present a max extension offer to Irving as soon as the extension window opens tonight, as Broussard notes, confirming a report from earlier this month (Twitter link). Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Nets and Bucks won’t be able to trade with each other during 2014/15 as a result of the Jason Kidd deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
Some in the Raptors organization are concerned that teams will make offers to Kyle Lowry and Greivis Vasquez at figures that Toronto is unwilling to match, according to Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
The Raptors failed to waive Tyler Hansbrough by the Sunday guarantee date listed in his contract, so his partial guarantee of $1MM for next season has become a fully guaranteed $3,326,235 salary.
The Wizards had been making Martell Webster available in trade talk before his back surgery, which likely torpedoed movement toward any deal, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
Washington reciprocates Garrett Temple‘s interest in returning, sources tell J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, who deems the point guard’s return to the Wizards as likely.
Soon-to-be restricted free agent Ekpe Udoh has changed agents, going with Brandon Grier and Michael Silverman of Athlete Management Group, USA Today’s Sam Amick tweets. The Bucks big man had previously been with Chris Luchey of CGL Sports.

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