Eastern Notes: 76ers, KG, Knicks, Pacers
The 76ers are wise to try and emulate the Spurs, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Like the Spurs, the Sixers are putting emphasis on continuity, as evidenced by their commitment to reigning Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams amidst trade speculation. Of course, they also have a Gregg Popovich disciple in coach Brett Brown. Here’s tonight’s look at the Eastern Conference..
- Despite the loss of Paul Pierce, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that Kevin Garnett likes the direction of the Nets and is “excited” about joining them for the upcoming season. That would indicate that Garnett, who is under contract for $12MM this season, won’t be retiring. That jibes with a report from Tim Bontemps of the New York Post earlier today.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson indicated to reporters today that he won’t be spending much more this summer after re-signing Carmelo Anthony, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
- Despite all of his idiosyncrasies, Paul George believes the Pacers will be a stronger title contender with Lance Stephenson back in the fold, writes Michael Marot of The Associated Press. “It’s all on Lance’s plate,” George said. “I didn’t have to deal with this because I was a restricted free agent. It’s really up to Lance, but I will say I do want him to come back.”
Chandler Parsons To Join Mavericks
8:00pm: Sign-and-trade talks between the two sides have ended without a deal, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
6:25pm: The Rockets and Mavericks have expressed a willingness to try and hammer out a sign-and-trade deal, but it’s not clear if the league will allow them to do so, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
4:59pm: The Rockets have decided not to match the offer sheet Chandler Parsons signed with the Mavericks, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Parsons will now earn more than $46,084,500 over the next three seasons with Dallas, a figure slightly less than the maximum he could have received in an offer sheet over that timeframe.
The Rockets were hoping to land free agent Chris Bosh and also match the Mavs’ offer sheet for Parsons. However, when Bosh surprised Houston by returning to Miami, the Rockets decided to spend their money elsewhere.
Parsons will earn $14.7MM next season, $15.36MM in 2015/16 and $16.02MM in 2016/17 for a total of $46.08MM over three years. The third and final year of the deal includes a player option.
Houston chose to decline the extremely reasonable $960K team option for Parsons this season in a move that preserved their right to match offers for the third-year forward in restricted free agency rather than see him become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Hoops Links: Pelicans, Bucks, Pierce
On this date in 2000, Mike Jones scored 19 points, and Rasul Salahuddin and Wayman Strickland each added 16 to lead the NBA Ambassadors to a 103-68 victory over China’s CBA All-Stars in the decisive third game of the Asian Basketball Association League championship series. The NBA Ambassadors represented the NBA’s new D-League, which formally kicked off in November 2001.
Got a great basketball blog post that you want to see featured on Hoops Rumors? Send it to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here’s this week’s look around the basketball blogosphere…
- Sports Injury Alert says the Pelicans need some better luck in the health department.
- The Daily Dribble gives us their all-time starting five for the Bucks.
- Red Rock Basketball looks at the fantasy impact Paul Pierce could have on the Wizards.
- The Starting Five pictures LeBron James as a hired gun.
- Six Championship Drive reviewed day one of the Orlando Summer League.
- Fully Clips reviews Jordan Farmar‘s injury history.
Please send submissions for Hoops Links to Zach at HoopsLinks@gmail.com.
Lakers Sign Julius Randle
3:47pm: The signing is official, the team announced.
3:09pm: The Lakers have signed top pick Julius Randle, according to Bill Oram of the Orange Country Register (on Twitter). He’ll likely receive more than $2.997MM this season, as our chart of salaries for 2014 first-round picks shows.
The Lakers got a bit of good news earlier this month when they learned that Randle won’t require surgery on his right foot. The big man, who was once in consideration for the No. 1 pick, could prove to be a tremendous value for the Lakers, who selected him at No. 7.
In his one year at Kentucky, Randle averaged 15.0 PPG and 10.4 RPG with 0.8 blocks per contest in 30.8 minutes a game.
Cavs Nearing Deal With Mike Miller
SUNDAY, 3:12pm: Miller is a possibility for the Mavs or Rockets, depending on which club doesn’t get Chandler Parsons, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.
SATURDAY, 6:40pm: The Cavs and Miller are now making progress on a contract, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
9:56am: Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that the Cavs are not yet close to a deal with Miller, and have only had cursory conversations at this point.
12:33am: The Cavs are closing in on a deal with Miller, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Miller on Friday cut off talks with the Nuggets, with whom he was reportedly close to a deal earlier this week, and had the Grizzlies tell him they were ending their pursuit.
WEDNESDAY, 3:27pm: Miller’s price is shooting up, with the Grizzlies, Thunder and Nuggets all in the race along with the Cavs, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). He’s in line for salaries of $4-4.5MM, Wojnarowski adds.
11:22am: James reached out to a pair of free agents about joining him on a team if he were to leave the Heat, and Miller was one of them, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Miller can’t sign with the Heat, since his amnestied contract would have run through next season, and teams are barred from re-signing the players they amnesty while their old contracts would still have been in effect.
10:52am: The Cavs are in pursuit of free agent Mike Miller, sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link). It seems like the latest move in the team’s efforts to land LeBron James, after this morning’s trade to clear max cap flexibility and news of the team’s attempts to sign Ray Allen. Cleveland is also making a run at James Jones, a longtime member of the Heat and a favorite of LeBron’s, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.
Cleveland reportedly considered claiming Miller off amnesty waivers last summer, but he wound up clearing those waivers and signing with the Grizzlies as a free agent, as Miller apparently gave signals he wouldn’t want to play in Cleveland. It’s not clear whether the chance to reunite with LeBron James, should the four-time MVP sign with Cleveland, would persuade Miller to reconsider a move to the Cavs. The Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, Thunder and Grizzlies are all reportedly in the mix for Miller, and while a report last week indicating that Memphis believed it was losing a bidding war for the Arn Tellem client also said that Miller would make his decision soon, he remains on the market.
Jones, 33, was little-used the past three seasons, though he did emerge as a rotation player for a time during the postseason for the Heat this past spring. The Miami native is likely in line for a minimum-salary deal wherever he ends up.
Week In Review: 6/7/14 – 6/13/14
LeBron James is going home. After a season full of speculation, the best player in the game is heading back to where it all started with the Cavs. James will get a max salary deal from Cleveland and says that he’s prepared to be the “old head” for the young Cavs squad. More from the week that was..
- Carmelo Anthony was choosing between the Knicks and Bulls but he’ll be staying put in New York. On his website, ‘Melo wrote: “This organization has supported me and in return, I want to stay and build here with this city and my team.”
- It seemed like Chris Bosh was headed to Houston, but he’ll be re-signing with the Heat.
- The Heat are also close to re-signing Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem.
- There were a number of contenders in the mix for Pau Gasol but he’ll be joining up with the Bulls.
- The Rockets are sending Jeremy Lin to the Lakers.
- The Rockets will sign Trevor Ariza.
- The Nets, Cavs, and Celtics completed a three-way deal which sent Marcus Thornton to the C’s, Jarrett Jack to the Nets, and gave Cleveland the cap room necessary to sign LeBron.
- The Mavs got Chandler Parsons to sign a three-year offer sheet but it appears that the Rockets will match.
- The Cavs want to swing a deal for Kevin Love.
- Paul Pierce agreed to sign with the Wizards.
- The Hornets signed Gordon Hayward to an offer sheet but he’ll wind up staying in Utah.
- The Suns got Isaiah Thomas off of a sign-and-trade with the Kings.
- The Suns re-signed P.J. Tucker.
- Mike Miller was nearing a deal with the Nuggets but it now appears that the Cavs are in the lead.
- The Mavs were nearing a deal with Vince Carter but he signed with the Grizzlies.
- Nick Young (a.k.a. Swaggy P) will stay with the Lakers.
- The Cavs traded Alonzo Gee to the Pelicans.
- LaMarcus Aldridge will seek a new deal next summer.
- The Heat were said to be the frontrunners for Luol Deng and they wound up signing him earlier today.
- The Grizzlies will re-sign Beno Udrih.
- The Magic surprised everyone when they agreed to sign Channing Frye.
- The Blazers will sign Steve Blake.
- The Heat signed Josh McRoberts.
- Jusuf Nurkic will join the Nuggets this season.
- James Johnson will sign a two-year deal with Toronto.
- Miami explored the possibility of sending Mario Chalmers out in a sign-and-trade to add more talent.
- The Bulls and Nikola Mirotic are close to a deal.
- The Cavs are recruiting Ray Allen but he’s thinking about retirement.
- The Raptors will re-sign Greivis Vasquez.
- The Lakers will re-sign Jordan Hill.
- The Rockets are nearing a new deal with Troy Daniels.
- The Hornets landed Marvin Williams.
- The Raptors waived Julyan Stone.
- The Knicks signed Cole Aldrich and waived Lamar Odom.
- Kent Bazemore will sign with the Hawks.
- Anthony Morrow agreed to join the Thunder.
- The Knicks and Sixers discussed Amare Stoudemire.
- The Pistons reached agreement with Aaron Gray.
- The Bulls will send Greg Smith to the Mavs.
- The Spurs agreed to sign Gregg Popovich to an extension.
- The NBA set the salary cap and luxury tax line.
- The Hawks waived John Salmons.
- The Bucks signed Jabari Parker.
- The Jazz signed Dante Exum.
- The Kings signed Nik Stauskas.
- The Jazz signed Rodney Hood.
- The Wolves signed Zach LaVine.
- The Grizzlies signed Jordan Adams.
- The Nuggets signed No. 19 pick Gary Harris.
- The Spurs agreed to sign Kyle Anderson.
- The Hornets acquired Scotty Hopson.
- The Clippers inked C.J. Wilcox.
- The Raptors signed Bruno Cabocio.
- The Celtics inked their first-round picks.
- Suns first-round pick Bogdan Bogdanovic has signed with Fenerbahce Ulker of Turkey.
- The Nets are close to a deal with Bojan Bogdanovic.
- The Pelicans and Russ Smith agreed to a guaranteed deal.
- Nando De Colo is heading to Russia.
- The Donald Sterling circus continues.
- The Grizzlies will invite Scottie Wilbekin and Okaro White to training camp.
And-Ones: Monroe, Celtics, Siva, Anthony
There is a possibility that restricted free agent Greg Monroe is avoiding signing any offer sheets in order to force a sign-and-trade deal out of Detroit, writes David Mayo of MLive. If Monroe never signs an offer sheet, the Pistons have nothing to match, and his agent David Falk could attempt to force a sign-and-trade to a preferred destination or advise Monroe to sign a qualifying offer which would then make Monroe an unrestricted free agent in 2015, notes Mayo.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Celtics best bet is to hold off on making any big moves until the summer of 2015, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com. In the piece, Forsberg breaks down Boston’s salary cap for the next two summers and weighs in on what moves the team could make.
- If the Rockets match the offer sheet that Chandler Parsons signed with the Mavericks, this won’t leave Dallas with many options at small forward, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. If the Mavs miss out on Parsons, look for them to make a run at Lance Stephenson, notes MacMahon.
- The Mavericks have a history of losing out on restricted free agents, MacMahon writes in a separate article.
- Carmelo Anthony‘s impending return to the Knicks was about business for both sides, not sentiment, writes Mike Vaccaro of The New York Post.
- Anthony’s return to the Knicks signifies he’s more concerned about being paid than he is about winning, though that shouldn’t necessarily make him an object of scorn, writes J.A. Adande of ESPN.com
- Peyton Siva’s non-guaranteed minimum salary contract became fully guaranteed for the coming season when he remained on the Pistons roster through Saturday.
- The Hornets and the Mavericks are showing interest in free agent guard D.J. Augustin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Lakers Acquire Jeremy Lin
SUNDAY, 12:22pm: The trade is now official the Lakers have announced via their website. Los Angeles will receive Lin, plus Houston’s first-round pick in 2015, and the 2015 second-round pick that the Rockets had acquired from the Clippers. The Rockets in turn receive the rights to Sergei Lishchuk.
FRIDAY, 1:59pm: The Rockets and Lakers have reached agreement on a deal that sends Jeremy Lin to the Lakers, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported earlier that the teams were finalizing such a deal, while Marc Stein of ESPN.com broke the story about the talks. A future first-round pick is also headed to the Lakers, Goodman confirms, while Wojnarowski’s previous reporting indicated other draft considerations will go from Houston to the Lakers, too. The Lakers will send out cash and the rights to a draft-and-stash prospect who’s playing overseas, Wojnarowski also reported, but no salary will go Houston’s way, helping clear room for Chris Bosh, who’s nearing a commitment to the Rockets.
The first-rounder headed to the Lakers is Houston’s 2015 pick, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. It’ll include protections, and the Rockets will also send a second-rounder the Lakers’ way, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
The deal indicates that the Lakers are ready to move forward and focus on next summer’s free agent group, since they’re committing nearly $8.4MM of their cap space to Lin. They missed out on LeBron James, and while Carmelo Anthony reportedly hasn’t told the Lakers they’re out of the running for him, another report indicates that ‘Melo has narrowed his choice to the Knicks and Bulls.
Western Notes: Suns, O’Neal, Jazz
The Suns recent contract agreement with Isaiah Thomas has puzzled some since the team already has point guards Eric Bledsoe, Goran Dragic, and recent draftee Tyler Ennis on the roster. But Phoenix believes they have only strengthened their “dual-playmaker” offense with the acquisition, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. GM Ryan McDonough said, “We feel like the strength of our team is the backcourt. We feel like this move has made us even stronger in the backcourt. We were very good when Dragic and Bledsoe were on the court, and we think Isaiah is that caliber of player where if you can have one or two of those guys on the court at all times, you really don’t have any dropoff scoring-wise. You always have multiple weapons. You have guys who can run pick-and-rolls from either side of the floor and can push the floor in transition.”
Here’s more from the western half:
- Jermaine O’Neal is expected to make a decision on his retirement soon, reports Diamond Leung of The Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). O’Neal appeared in 44 games for the Warriors last season, averaging 7.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG while playing 20.1 minutes per contest.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr has spoken with Klay Thompson and David Lee about the trade rumors surrounding both players, writes Leung. According to the article Kerr said, “They both get it. I told them, I know you get it. It doesn’t make it any easier. But this is why you really get paid. I mean, you get paid all this money, is it really for coming into a gym for two hours a day and shooting jump shots? We’ve been doing that for free our whole life, you know? You get paid because you can get traded, and you have to uproot your family. You can get hurt, you can get booed, and people on the message board are crushing you. That’s where you actually earn your money in this league, where it actually feels like work.“
- Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey was noncommittal when asked what Gordon Hayward‘s new contract would mean for Alec Burks and Enes Kanter and any discussions on signing those players to contract extensions, notes Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
- With the Lakers seemingly striking out on all the big name free agents this summer, the team will have to turn to “Plan B,” writes Bill Oram of the Orange County Register.
Nets Close To Deal With Bojan Bogdanovic
SUNDAY, 9:54am: Sources say that the Nets intend to sign Bogdanovic sometime this coming week, tweets Youngmisuk, who also notes that the departure of Paul Pierce could open up minutes for Bogdanovic and Sergey Karasev.
TUESDAY, 9:03am: The Nets are almost certain to sign draft-and-stash prospect Bojan Bogdanovic, writes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. A source told Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com that the 25-year-old forward would agree to an three-year arrangement for the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, with a player option in the final season (Twitter link), a framework that Bontemps pointed to earlier. Such a deal would be worth $3.278MM this year and total nearly $10.277MM over the three seasons.
The 6’6″ Bogdanovic and the Nets agreed to a deal for slightly less last season, but his buyout from Turkey’s Fenerbahce Ulker caused the pact to unravel, and he remained overseas. The former 31st overall pick’s production was down in most categories this past season, as he averaged 13.4 points and 35.0% three-point shooting after putting up 14.3 PPG and 38.7% three-point shooting in 2012/13. Still, his assists per game went from 1.7 to 2.2, indicating that he took on a larger role as a facilitator.
The Nets seemed to originally have their mid-level earmarked for Shaun Livingston, but with his departure for the Warriors, it looks like Bogdanovic has emerged as the club’s next biggest target. Once the mid-level’s gone, the Nets will only have the minimum salary to use on free agents from other teams, so it appears as though much will be riding on Bogdanovic’s ability to contribute next season. Bogdanovic is not to be confused with Bogdan Bogdanovic, whom the Suns drafted 27th overall last month.