Heat Close To Signing Wade, Haslem
SATURDAY, 6:45pm: The agent that represents both Wade and Haslem tells Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel that he is working to complete deals for both of his clients in Miami. Presumably, that’s Henry Thomas of the Creative Artists Agency.
FRIDAY, 4:52pm: The Heat are making a strong pursuit of Dwyane Wade now that Chris Bosh has committed to return, and they’re trying to complete short-term contracts with both Wade and Udonis Haslem, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links).
Wade opted out of about $42MM over two years last month in an apparent attempt to help the Heat retain LeBron James, who agreed today to sign with the Cavs. Haslem opted out of $4.62MM for next season, but he, like Wade, would be hard-pressed to find comparable salaries on the market, given their declining abilities. Both have played exclusively for the Heat during their NBA careers, but it’s not clear whether the Heat will approach the money they passed up when they declined their options.
The 32-year-old Wade still seems capable of commanding eight-figure salaries, since he still averaged 9.0 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds even given his knee trouble. The Bulls gauged Wade’s interest in signing a deal that would bring him back to his native Chicago, but Wade reportedly wouldn’t go for that.
Haslem, who was in and out of the Heat’s rotation this past year, has a market value that probably no more than the minimum salary at this point. Still, I wouldn’t be surprised if Haslem, a client of Henry Thomas, just like Wade, winds up with a deal for somewhat more than that from the Heat, even if it doesn’t come close to the $4.62MM he passed up.
Western Notes: Pelicans, Parsons, Grunwald
The Thunder lost a valuable weapon Friday with the expiration of a $6.5MM trade exception left over from last year’s sign-and-trade of Kevin Martin to the Wolves. The Thunder had hoped to use the exception to acquire Pau Gasol, and today lost out on the big man, report Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Here’s more from out West:
- The Warriors had considered using their own expired trade exception to acquire Brandon Bass, among other players, reports Zach Lowe of Grantland.
- The Pelicans renounced their rights to Al-Farouq Aminu, Jason Smith and James Southerland, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. That means they no longer hold any form of Bird rights on the trio.
- The Suns also renounced Emeka Okafor‘s rights in a move that will erase his $19.2MM cap hold from Phoenix’s books, Deeks reports in a separate tweet.
- Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com) that although the Rockets just snagged small forward Trevor Ariza, Houston is still deciding whether to match Chandler Parsons‘ max offer sheet with the Mavs.
- The Grizzlies have been talking up Glen Grunwald as a candidate for their GM-in-waiting search, Mitch Lawrence of New York Daily News reports. Lawrence expects Memphis to hire Grunwald for the job.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southeast Rumors: Stephenson, Deng, Wade
Lance Stephenson will be targeted by multiple teams in the coming days, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The Hornets had their offer sheet for Gordon Hayward matched by the Jazz, and a league source tells Deveney that Charlotte’s secondary plans of upgrading their roster will bring a Stephenson pursuit to the forefront of the free agency landscape. Here’s more out of the Southeast..
- The Heat are making progress in their pursuit of Luol Deng, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Deng doesn’t have an offer from Miami yet but expects to talk with the team today, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
- Meanwhile, the Hawks, who were rumored to have interest in Deng, likely won’t be making a deal with the small forward, since the two sides are a ways apart on the dollar amount of a potential contract, reveals Amick (on Twitter)
- Both Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are negotiating the length and salary of deals to return to the Heat, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. The pair are expected to remain in Miami on multi-year contracts after opting out to restructure around LeBron James, who left for Cleveland.
- The Hornets pursuit of Marvin Williams was put on hold while Charlotte waited for the Jazz to officially match their offer sheet for Hayward, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Presumably, those negotiations will resume now that Utah has matched the Hayward deal.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Raptors Re-Sign Patrick Patterson
JULY 12TH: The signing is official, per a team release.
JULY 4TH: The Raptors and Patrick Patterson have reached agreement on a three-year, $18MM deal, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Toronto will use Bird Rights to retain the restricted free agent, keeping him away from other suitors before he could sign an offer sheet.
The Suns and Magic were reportedly in pursuit of the power forward. The Raptors apparently feared that some of the above-market deals around the league early in free agency would price them out of the ability to re-sign Patterson and fellow restricted free agent Greivis Vasquez.
The Patterson deal takes care of one part of that equation for the team, but with the club’s trade for Lou Williams shortly before the July moratorium, it’ll be a tight squeeze beneath the projected luxury tax line to sign Vasquez with the hope of adding anyone else. Still, the club appeared to place a priority on Patterson once it secured Kyle Lowry, as worries about the ability of Amir Johnson to stay healthy apparently fueled their desire for a strong backup power forward.
A $6MM average annual value is somewhat high for a bench player, but the capped-out Raptors wouldn’t have had the cap flexibility to shell out quite as much to anyone else had the Sam Goldfeder client ended up elsewhere. Patterson played a critical role in the rotation after coming over from Sacramento in the Rudy Gay trade, averaging 9.1 points and 5.1 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game with a 16.2 PER for Toronto.
Rockets To Sign Trevor Ariza
The Rockets and Trevor Ariza have agreed on a four-year, $32MM deal that will bring the sharpshooting small forward to Houston, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. A number of teams were rumored to be interested in Ariza’s services, but the Rockets beat them out on a deal that will still provide them enough flexibility to match the Mavericks’ offer sheet that was presented to Chandler Parsons, should they choose to do so.
Ariza’s contract is structured on a declining scale, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). He will earn $8.6MM this season, and $8.2MM, $7.8MM, $7.4MM, in the following years. The price figure doesn’t prohibit the Rockets from bringing back Parsons, but it’s seemingly unlikely, given that both Ariza and Parsons play small forward. Ariza could potentially be used as a stretch four alongside Dwight Howard, but such a scenario would only be necessary if Houston brings back Parsons.
In 77 games with the Wizards last season, the Rob Pelinka client averaged 14.4 points and 6.2 rebounds per night. He shot 40.7% from beyond the arc, well above his career mark of 34.7%. Ariza, 29, played in Houston during the 2009/10 season. He’ll likely be in line to start for the Rockets, provided the team chooses not to match the Mavs’ offer sheet on Parsons.
Ariza’s departure is a major loss for the Wizards, who worked to secure the return of Ariza and fellow free agent Marcin Gortat. They were able to do so rather quickly with Gortat, reportedly the higher priority of the two, but Ariza was determined to shop the open market. The Wizards, with Martell Webster out perhaps until New Year’s Day after undergoing back surgery, will either have to turn the small forward position over to 2013 No. 3 overall pick Otto Porter or push to find another option on the market.
Pau Gasol, Bulls Close To Agreement
4:28pm: Gasol is close to joining the Bulls, but it won’t be through a sign-and-trade, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.
3:23pm: Dunleavy won’t be included in any sign-and-trade for Gasol, tweets Wojnarowski. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle hears the Rockets’ most likely role in the suggested deal would be to take on expiring contracts (Twitter link).
3:04pm: The Lakers appear to be in line to get “one or two picks” in a sign-and-trade for Gasol, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), who adds that Houston might be involved in the deal in some fashion as well.
10:30am: The sign-and-trade discussions with the Lakers have involved sending Dunleavy and the non-guaranteed contracts of Mike James, Louis Amundson, and Ronnie Brewer to Los Angeles for Gasol, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. The possibility remains that the Bulls could work out agreements to acquire both Gasol and Anthony, but appears increasingly slim, per Johnson.
10:24am: A deal should be complete today, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. The mechanics of the deal, along with the ultimate implications for Chicago’s pursuit of ‘Melo, are still unknown.
8:12am: Free agent Pau Gasol is working with the Bulls on completing an agreement, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report from Spanish newspaper Marca.com. The deal would rely on the Lakers agreeing to a sign-and-trade with Chicago, and sources tell Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that Los Angeles is holding out for draft compensation to participate in such a deal. LA received a future first-round pick in Friday’s agreement to acquire Jeremy Lin, and the ESPN duo’s sources say the Lakers are looking for the same in exchange for paving Gasol’s path to Chicago.
If the Bulls can’t work out a sign-and-trade for Gasol’s services, the Spurs are still poised as front-runners to acquire the skilled big man, per Stein and Shelburne. The talks indicate that the Bulls have lost optimism of signing Carmelo Anthony, despite reports that they are the Knicks’ only competitor to land the New York free agent, and that the Lakers are resigned to losing Gasol after having several contract offers rejected by him. The Thunder and Knicks are both likely out of the running for Gasol, the ESPN scribes write.
The Bulls have been hoping to find a willing partner to take back the final year of Carlos Boozer‘s contract rather than amnesty him, and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has tweeted out his cap calculations that show a Gasol deal including Boozer is possible, albeit complicated (Twitter links). Pincus also identifies Mike Dunleavy‘s contract as a piece that would make the deal work.
Cavs Rumors: Love, Andersen, Irving, Miller
Cleveland has had nothing to complain about so far this offseason, landing the first overall selection in the draft, securing Kyrie Irving to a long-term deal, and signing the league’s best player in LeBron James. Let’s have a look at the latest from the Cavs’ camp..
- Kevin Love is “intrigued” by the notion of being traded to the Cavs, a source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com, in a report that confirms the All-Star would still be willing to re-sign in Cleveland now that LeBron will be present.
- The Cavs have been in contact with Chris Andersen‘s agent, but haven’t entered into serious talks yet, reports Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. Amico adds that the Heat are determined to keep the big man from landing in Cleveland.
- Irving holds an early termination option for the fifth year on the max extension he recently inked with the Cavs, and the deal will also include a 15% trade kicker, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Talks between the Cavs and Mike Miller are not yet imminent, but Cleveland is Miller’s top choice, hears Amico (Twitter links).
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Hornets Acquire Scotty Hopson
1:23pm: The deal is official, Charlotte announced via press release, which also revealed the Hornets will receive some cash from the Cavs. The exact amount wasn’t disclosed, however.
1:12am: The Hornets will receive Scotty Hopson from the Cavaliers in a restructured version of a draft-night trade agreement between the clubs, reports Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Brendan Haywood and the rights to No. 45 overall pick Dwight Powell are headed to Cleveland, Lloyd adds, so Hopson is essentially replacing Alonzo Gee, who was in the original version of the agreement. The Cavs sent Gee to New Orleans on Friday in a separate trade. The net effect will likely be the same for the Hornets, since it appeared they were primarily seeking cap flexibility in the deal.
Hopson’s contract, like Gee’s, is non-guaranteed. The 24-year-old appeared in only two games for seven minutes during his brief Cavs tenure, and it’s his only NBA experience, having spent the rest of his pro career overseas. The Cavs signed him using their room exception this past March to a prorated deal for the waning days of 2013/14, with a non-guaranteed 2014/15 salary tacked on. It was something of a clumsy maneuver for the Cavs, since they could have signed a long-tenured veteran to the minimum salary and tacked on a greater non-guaranteed salary for 2014/15, thus giving themselves a more attractive trade asset. Using the room exception also forced the Cavs to give Hopson a significantly higher prorated salary for 2013/14 than they would have doled out if they’d signed him or someone else to the minimum salary.
Cavs GM David Griffin redeems himself with his acquisition of Haywood, whose unusual contract sets him up to become a valuable trade weapon next summer, as I explained. Powell, a power forward from Stanford, joins No. 33 overall pick Joe Harris among second-round picks vying for a roster spot with Cleveland this year.
Suns Acquire Isaiah Thomas
SATURDAY, 1:07pm: The trade is complete, per a release from the Suns.
5:51pm: Thomas confirms that he’s heading to the Suns once the sign-and-trade is complete, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Of the deal, Thomas said, “I feel wanted. That’s all I wanted.”
FRIDAY, 5:40pm: The Suns and Kings are finalizing a sign-and-trade deal on a four-year, $27MM contract for Isaiah Thomas, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). This was after Thomas had reached an agreement and signed an offer sheet with Phoenix, tweets Wojnarowski. Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic (Twitter link) reports that the Suns will send rights to 2013 second-round pick Alex Oriakhi, and that Sacramento will also wind up with a $7.2MM trade exception.
Phoenix was one of a handful of teams that had reached out to Thomas since free agency began. The Lakers, Mavericks, Pistons, Warriors and Heat were also reported to have had interest in the former Sacramento point guard.
Thomas averaged 20.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 6.3 APG last year for the Kings, while appearing in 72 games for the team. His slash line was .447/.360/.857.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Spurs Sign Kyle Anderson
Kyle Anderson has signed with the Spurs, the team announced in a press release. The 30th pick from the 2014 draft is in line for a $1,093,680 salary, assuming the team pays the fully allowed 120% of his rookie-scale wages. It is standard for teams to pay that amount, but not assured for players at the end of the first round like Anderson.
The UCLA product will likely come off San Antonio’s bench as a reserve point guard, but Anderson’s impressive size will provide the Spurs some flexibility on where the team can play him, as Hoops Rumors’ Eddie Scarito mentioned in Anderson’s prospect profile. Hoops Rumors’ Alex Lee projected that Anderson would be taken 26th overall in the final version of his mock draft, suggesting San Antonio got good value from the 30th pick.
Anderson joins the reigning NBA champions and will learn from perhaps the game’s best coaching staff, led by head coach Gregg Popovich. It might take some seasoning before Anderson is ready to get regular playing time, but he couldn’t ask for a better group to learn from.