Eastern Notes: Humphries, Meeks, Patterson
Free agent Kris Humphries is still open to returning to the Celtics, writes Ben Rohrbach of WEEI 93.7 FM. Humphries said, “I could definitely see it. My agent handles most of the stuff with free agency. We’ll see what happens. I definitely could see it. I played out last year and didn’t look to jump to a playoff team before the end of the year, so I definitely enjoyed my time there, and we’ll see what happens.”
Here’s the latest from the east:
- Jodie Meeks wants to reward the Pistons on the court this season for making his signing a priority, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. Meeks said, “I was their No. 1 priority. He [Stan Van Gundy] liked the way I competed on offense and defense. That’s my motto: Not worry about the bad shooting nights. Just play hard and let the chips fall where they may.”
- Patrick Patterson never had any desire to leave Toronto, which made his decision to re-sign with the Raptors easy, writes Mike Ganter of the Toronto Sun. On remaining in Toronto, Patterson said, “Toronto was always one of my top choices as far as coming back. The fans and organization and the team and the friendships I have with these guys — I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want to give those up, so there was no real uncertainty or doubt. It was all about coming to the right terms and getting everything situated.”
- The Bucks may announce their new partial owners soon, possibly as soon as tomorrow, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).
- Van Gundy admits that Greg Monroe‘s contract situation with the Pistons has him a “little nervous,” writes David Mayo of MLive. Van Gundy said, “The nervousness is just the unknown. It’s not knowing, beyond this year, especially, where you’re going. But again, we have plenty of time, if something happened, to adjust for next year and everything else.”
- The Lance Stephenson free agency situation could drag out for awhile, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com. A league executive told Mannix that the Pacers couldn’t increase their offer much more above what they have already presented Stephenson.
Western Notes: Miller, Bosh, Tucker, Mavs
The Rockets and the Mavericks are interested in Mike Miller, reports Mark Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Nuggets have the best financial offer on the table for Miller, but Dallas, Houston, and the Cavaliers offer him a better chance to play for a winner, tweets Stein.
More from out west:
- The Pelicans extended a two-year contract offer to undrafted free agent center Patric Young, reports David Pick of Eurobasket (Twitter link).
- In addition to the Rockets and Heat, Chris Bosh was also being pursued by the Nuggets, Suns, and Lakers, notes Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com. On why he chose to re-sign with Miami, Bosh said, “There were very enticing offers. There was some surprising advances made in everything, but I ultimately decided to stay in Miami. I think it was the right choice. I benefit from it, the team will benefit from it, from here. My heart was in Miami. I wanted to be there and keep my family there and build relationships and really keep building on something special.“
- It was a long road for P.J. Tucker, but the hard work paid off with his new contract with the Suns, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic.
- Mavericks‘ president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson would like to re-sign free agent center Bernard James, tweets Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Nelson said, “We love to be able to have Sarge [James] back because of his shot blocking.” James averaged 0.3 BPG in 30 games last season for Dallas.
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban suggested that Chandler Parsons was the team’s top free agent target all along, writes Bryan Gutierrez of ESPNDallas.com. Cuban said, “I looked at all the main guys that were young that we thought would be available and we loved his game. We liked him the best of all the free agents and that was point one.” In the article Cuban also said that if he was in the Rockets position, he would have matched their offer sheet on Parsons.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Antic, Turner, Hornets
The Knicks are bringing back Carmelo Anthony on a near-max deal, but Knicks president Phil Jackson signaled that austerity is ahead for the club as it looks to preserve cap flexibility for next summer. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the details, including Jackson’s comments about his desire for the Knicks to get out of the tax, a goal that the team will be unable to accomplish for the coming season without significant salary-clearing trades.
Here’s more from the east:
- The Hawks will not waive Pero Antic and his $1.25MM contract for next season will be fully guaranteed tomorrow, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
- The Celtics are interested in free agent Evan Turner, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, echoing last week’s report from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities on Minnesota’s pursuit of the former No. 2 overall pick. Turner apparently remains the top priority for the Wolves, Wolfson adds (Twitter link).
- The Hornets haven’t improved their team since free agency began, writes Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer. The team has failed to make a big splash, and the signing of Marvin Williams won’t offset the loss of Josh McRoberts to the Heat in free agency, opines Fowler.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Heat Sign Danny Granger
JULY 14th: The deal is now official, the team has announced. Of the signing, Heat president Pat Riley said, “One of our main priorities this offseason was obtaining a proven veteran like Danny with All-Star experience. We expect him to be a multi-position player and have a very successful season in our system.”
JULY 7th: The Heat and Danny Granger have struck a two-year, $4.2MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. It’ll be for the bi-annual exception and it’ll include a player option in year two.
It’s the second agreement Miami has reached today after securing a deal with Josh McRoberts for the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception. Granger, the long-time Pacers star, comes to Miami after finishing last season with the Clippers, largely failing to regain his scoring prowess after missing almost all of 2012/13 with injury.
In 41 combined games for the Pacers and Clippers last season, Granger averaged 8.2 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 20.7 minutes per contest. His total PER amounted to 10.9 and that was boosted by a small uptick in his dozen games with the Clippers.
The Wizards, Suns, and Clippers have been among the teams that have reached out to Granger since the start of free agency. Obviously, the former All-Star has lost a step or three in recent years but the Heat will be delighted if the 31-year-old can at least gain some of that form back. Excluding these last two forgettable seasons, Granger averaged 18.2 PPG and 5.2 RPG.
Wojnarowski reports that Granger was willing to take less than market value for the chance to join up with LeBron James in Miami which would imply that he was offered more elsewhere.
Bulls Trade Greg Smith To Mavs
MONDAY, 6:18pm: The Mavericks have announced that the trade is official. Dallas acquires Smith from the Bulls in exchange for the rights to Tadija Dragicevic.
9:24pm: Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com confirms the trade is happening, and is told that the Mavs will give up virtually nothing in the deal (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 10:40pm: The Bulls are expected to trade Greg Smith to the Mavs by Monday, a league source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune confirms that a trade is in the works, but stops short of calling it a done deal (on Twitter). Chicago is looking to clear Smith’s salary, at just under $950K, to aid in their ongoing efforts in free agency.
Smith was signed by the Bulls after the Rockets waived the center during the season. The 23-year-old was injured at the time, arriving amid a slew of late-season pickups that gave the Bulls cap flexibility for this year while helping them reach the roster minimum. Details of compensation from Dallas are unknown, but they would likely be modest for a recovering player on a minimum contract.
Smith played in 70 games for Houston in the 2012/13 season, but that was sandwiched between a total of 19 appearances in his other two seasons in the NBA. If healthy, he could fill a need for Dallas, who were reportedly interested in re-signing fellow big man DeJuan Blair at the minimum salary.
Bulls Trade Anthony Randolph To Magic
5:30pm: The deal is now official, the Magic has announced. The Magic receive second rounders in 2015 and 2016, cash considerations, and Randolph, while the Bulls receive the draft rights to Rakovic.
4:29pm: The Magic would send the draft rights to Milovan Rakovic to Chicago and Orlando would also receive cash as part of the deal, reports Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links).
3:38pm: The Bulls will trade Anthony Randolph and a pair of second-round picks to the Magic, who are expected to waive Randolph once they receive him, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Chicago has been shopping Randolph, whom the team acquired in a draft-night trade from the Nuggets, in an effort to clear cap room. His salary, worth more than $1.825MM for the upcoming season, is fully guaranteed, so it appears it will remain on the books for the Magic, who’ll use their cap space to absorb Randolph, with the second-rounders as enticement for them to do so. It’s not immediately clear what Orlando will give up, but it’s unlikely to involve any guaranteed salary.
Chicago has to open up cap space one way or another to accommodate its agreements with Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic, as I explained this morning. Sending out Randolph will move the Bulls only incrementally toward that goal, one that’s unlikely to be reached unless Carlos Boozer leaves either by amnesty or salary-clearing trade. Still, it’s a maneuver that could allow the Bulls to use their Early Bird rights to re-sign Kirk Hinrich and preserve their room exception. Chicago also has an agreement in place to send Greg Smith and his guaranteed salary to the Mavs.
In 43 games with the Nuggets last season, Randolph averaged 4.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 0.7 APG while playing 12.3 minutes per contest. His career averages are 7.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 0.7 APG in six seasons.
Rockets Close To Re-Signing Troy Daniels
5:24pm: The deal is expected to be for two years, tweets Feigen.
MONDAY, 5:14pm: The Rockets are finalizing the deal to sign Daniels today, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 3:47pm: The Rockets are in serious discussions with restricted free agent Troy Daniels about a deal that would bring the guard back to Houston, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Daniels lacks much NBA experience, but he’s proven in his limited minutes and D-League stints that he’s a capable three-point specialist that fits the profile of a beyond the arc sniper that GM Daryl Morey covets.
Daniels stepped into the spotlight when he hit a go-ahead three pointer late in Game Three of the opening round in the 2014/15 playoffs. He’s played only 75 minutes of regular season NBA basketball, but he’s hit 40.1% of his three-pointers in the D-League, proving he can shoot with incredible accuracy.
Charania hears the two sides are working on a deal that should be completed soon (Twitter link). Bringing back the John Spencer client would certainly stand to help the shooting of Houston, which had the fifth highest team field goal percentage in the NBA last season.
Heat Sign Josh McRoberts
JULY 14th, 5:05pm: The Heat have made the announcement that the deal is now official. Of the signing, Pat Riley said (Twitter links), “We felt from day one that he was one of our main targets. We are delighted that this multi-faceted player will help us immensely in being the kind of team that Coach Spoelstra wants with his versatility.”
2:58pm: The deal that McRoberts received from the Heat was slightly better than the Hornets’ best offer, as Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer hears (Twitter link). The Heat released a statement today acknowledging their agreement with the power forward.
JULY 7th, 2:03pm: Josh McRoberts has verbally committed to sign with the Heat, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Miami appeared to be in a two-way battle with the Hornets earlier today. It’s a four-year deal worth the full value of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, with a player option for the final season, Stein adds (on Twitter). That would make it worth $22,652,350, as I explained.
The use of the mid-level will make the Heat hard-capped for the 2014/15, meaning they can’t go more than $4MM above the tax level at any point. That hard cap is projected to be about $81MM.
Charlotte apparently made the same offer to retain the slick-passing power forward, but the Heat have seemingly won out. An increasing number of executives reportedly believed that the client of agent Mike Conley Sr. would indeed end up with a deal for the mid-level.
It’s the first agreement so far this month for the Heat and team president Pat Riley, who’ve been courting LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the hopes that the star trio will return. McRoberts isn’t the sort of significant free agent addition that Marcin Gortat, Kyle Lowry and Luol Deng, all of whom the Heat have reportedly had on their radar, would have been, but he is coming off a career year. He averaged 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds in 30.3 minutes per game for the then-Bobcats, but he also notched one of the league’s best assist-to-turnover ratios, averaging 4.3 and 1.1 in those categories, respectively. The Blazers, Mavs, Cavs, Clippers, Knicks, Spurs, Suns and Lakers were all among his reported suitors.
Pistons Sign Jodie Meeks
JULY 14TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“Jodie’s approach to the game fits the style of basketball we want to play and his ability to shoot the ball from the outside is a skill that will help our team moving forward,” GM Jeff Bower said in the team’s statement.
JULY 1ST: 4:32pm: No options are involved as a part of the deal, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
3:53pm: The Pistons and Jodie Meeks have agreed on a three-year deal for more than $19MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The two-guard leaves the Lakers to fill a need in Detroit, which was woeful from behind the three-point arc last season, and he’ll receive a tidy raise for doing so after making just $1.55MM this past season in L.A.
It appears that Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy will use cap space on the maneuver, and the deal doesn’t bode well for the future of free agent guard Rodney Stuckey in Detroit. Meeks made a career-high 40.1% of his three-pointers this past season, though he’s only a 37.6% three-point shooter for his career. Still, that’s much better than Stuckey, who shot just 27.3% from behind the arc last season and carries a 28.6% mark in that category.
Meeks expressed desire to remain with the Lakers, and they were reportedly one of a number of teams making contact with him last night. The Pistons likely outbid others for the Andrew Vye client, who became the first free agent to agree to a deal in the 2014/15 season.
Magic Sign Channing Frye
JULY 14TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release
“Channing’s character, competiveness, veteran experience, and leadership ability are valuable additions to our developing team,” Magic GM Rob Hennigan said in the team’s statement. “His ability to stretch the floor and play sound team defense are also ways in which we envision Channing helping our team moving forward.”
JULY 9TH, 9:35pm Frye’s deal will be front-loaded and team-friendly in its latter years, a source with knowledge of the agreement tells Joshua Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. The deal will see decreases of 4.5% each season–the most allowable under the CBA–which projects to salaries of $8,560,707, $8,175,476, $7,807,579, and $7,456,238 for each year.
JULY 7TH, 5:04pm: The Magic have reached agreement on a deal with Channing Frye, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The deal will be for four years and $32MM (link).
While Frye has been garnering interest from around the league, the Magic weren’t seen as a likely destination and weren’t really mentioned as a possibility. The incumbent Suns wanted to re-sign him, the Warriors and Cavs were ready and waiting when Frye opted out of his deal with Phoenix, and there was mutual interest between the big man and the Blazers.
The 31-year-old missed all of 2012/13 with an enlarged heart but wound up playing and starting in all 82 of the Suns’ regular season games last season. Frye averaged 11.1 PPG with 5.1 RPG and 0.8 BPG in 28.2 minutes per contest. He’s had slightly better marks in those categories and in PER, but he was nonetheless a bright spot for the Suns last season.
In a league that is falling more and more in love with the idea of a stretch four every day, Frye is a hot commodity. The 6-foot-11 can consistently connect from the outside and owns a career 38.5% mark on three-pointers.
Orlando has upgraded their power forward situation in a big way this offseason. Frye will presumably be the starter with No. 4 overall pick Aaron Gordon in reserve.