Eastern Notes: Hamilton, Anthony, Deng
Justin Hamilton is mulling a guaranteed two-year contract from a team in Zagreb, reports Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. Hamilton is signed to a non-guaranteed contract with the Heat for 2014/15. Hamilton has an unusual contract in that he is scheduled to make a base salary of $816,482, and if he is not waived before August 1st $408,241 becomes guaranteed, and if he’s not waived by December 1st, then $612,362 of that contract becomes guaranteed. You can check out our Schedule of Contract Guarantee Dates for more info on Hamilton and non-guaranteed contracts throughout the league.
More from the east:
- Carmelo Anthony is expected to make a decision where he will be playing next season shortly, perhaps within the next 24 hours, reports Fred Kerber of The New York Post.
- Luol Deng sat down with the Heat‘s Pat Riley today to discuss the possibility of Deng bringing his talents to South Beach, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The meeting was described as “preliminary,” and Deng reportedly will not take a salary significantly below his market value, believed to be above $10MM per season, to sign with the Heat.
- Danny Ainge hasn’t given up on trying to work out a trade that would bring Kevin Love to the Celtics, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Deng, Novak, Rockets, Bazemore
Erik Spoelstra joined Pat Riley to meet with Luol Deng in Chicago today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Heat are said to have interest in Deng, but they might not be willing to take on the reported $12MM annual price tag for the forward. Here’s more from around the NBA:
- Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has indicated that second round pick DeAndre Daniels will be stashed in Europe for a year to get some much-needed playing time, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
- The Thunder are bringing aboard Darko Rajakovic as an assistant coach, the team announced via press release. Rajakovic has spent the past two seasons as the head coach of the Tulsa 66ers, OKC’s D-League affiliate.
- Steve Novak will bring some much needed shooting to the Jazz, writes Kurt Kragthorpe of the Salt Lake Tribune. Novak is a career 43.9% shooter from 3-point range over eight seasons, almost exactly the same figure as Kyle Korver. The money owed to him over the next two years (about $7.5MM) was enough to make the Raptors want to dump his salary, but it wasn’t prohibitive for Utah.
- Russian powerhouse CSKA Moscow extended a two-year, €3MM offer to free agent guard Nando De Colo, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. That figure translates into roughly $4.08MM.
- Put the Rockets on the growing list of teams interested in Kent Bazemore, says Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
- Ike Diogu has signed with Dongguan in China on a deal that allows him to jump ship to the NBA anytime between now and August 15th, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- A rumored agreement between Andres Nocioni and Real Madrid is not a done deal, according to Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (on Twitter). The forward is still receiving interest from NBA teams (link).
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Free Agent Rumors: Bosh, LeBron, ‘Melo
So far today we’ve heard that Devin Harris struck a deal to remain in Dallas, while the Bucks are trying to find a way to pry one of Eric Bledsoe or Greivis Vasquez away from their respective clubs. Let’s have a look at even more happenings around the free agency front:
- Chris Bosh is the key to keeping the Big Three together in Miami, writes Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Unfortunately for the Heat, there are rumblings around the league that Bosh might actually prefer to take a max-salary contract elsewhere rather than stay in Miami for a discount.
- At this point, some teams actually believe LeBron James is more likely to leave the Heat than Carmelo Anthony is to depart from the Knicks, passes along Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
- A source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls would hope to engage the Lakers in sign-and-trade possibilities should they get a verbal commitment from Pau Gasol. The Bulls would dangle the expiring $16.8MM contract of Carlos Boozer and likely would have to include sweeteners, possibly in the form of draft picks.
- If ‘Melo re-signs with the Knicks, expect Phil Jackson to make a run at trading for Kevin Love, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN. Still, Wolfson doesn’t see a good match between the Wolves and Knicks.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Bucks Pursuing Eric Bledsoe, Greivis Vasquez
In addition to considering a possible trade for Jeremy Lin, the Bucks are pursuing restricted free agents Eric Bledsoe and Greivis Vasquez, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Milwaukee is in the process of pitching an offer sheet to Bledsoe, says Stein, but the Suns will be able to match whatever the Bucks present to the 24-year-old if they truly intend on retaining him as they’ve stated.
We heard yesterday afternoon that Vasquez and the Raptors were close to a deal that would bring the point guard back to Toronto, so Milwaukee’s pursuit might be in vain. However a lucrative enough offer from the Bucks might derail talks between Vasquez and the Raptors, since nothing official has reportedly been agreed upon.
The Bucks made a deal for Brandon Knight last summer and also roster Nate Wolters, but bringing aboard a talented young guard certainly couldn’t stand to hurt Milwaukee, the NBA’s worst team in 2013/14. Still, such a scenario seems unlikely given that each restricted free agent’s respective club seems intent on matching any offer sheets set to be presented.
Bucks, Sixers Interested In Jeremy Lin
12:56pm: The Bucks like Lin as a player, but have no interest in his $15MM salary next season, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter).
12:32pm: The Sixers and Bucks have expressed interest in trading for guard Jeremy Lin, sources tell ESPN.com’s Marc Stein. Of course, both clubs want to see what kind of sweetner Houston is willing to throw in.
The 76ers, who have tons of room to absorb Lin’s deal and won’t have to send salary back, have emerged as a leading contender for the guard. If the Rockets can dump Lin’s salary without having to absorb any other contracts, they can give themselves enough room necessary to possibly land Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh.
It’s believed that the Rockets would have to send Philly at least one future first-round pick to convince the Sixers to go through with the deal, given that Lin is owed $15MM next season. Only $8.4MM will count against the salary cap, but that’s still a hefty amount to take on. Sources say that the Sixers, though, are happy to take on Lin, despite having Michael Carter-Williams slated as their starting point guard, provided that the extra asset or two they get from Houston is sufficiently attractive.
Of course, it helps that Sixers GM Sam Hinkie is close with Rockets GM Daryl Morey from their days in Houston together.
Latest On Heat, Chris Bosh, LeBron James
Chris Bosh‘s representatives have made recent calls around the league to reconfirm that max slots would be available to him, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The answer his camp has received is yes.
The biggest issue for Miami right now could be that they might not be able to meet Bosh’s salary desires and still maintain space for free agents, Wojnarowski tweets. Getting Bosh to take a discount might not be as easy as once thought. If LeBron James wants a short-term deal in Miami, it doesn’t seem likely that Bosh would want to commit long-term at a steep discount only to possibly get left behind later (link). Meanwhile, Pat Riley has been unable to give the reps for free agents concrete offers because he doesn’t have the precise figures on Bosh and Dwyane Wade yet (link).
That doesn’t mean the Heat are waiting on any member of the Big Three to talk shop, however. Team execs will be meeting in Chicago with representatives for Luol Deng today, reports Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel (Twitter link), and Riley will be in attendance according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter). David Aldridge of NBA.com (via Twitter) adds that they’ll be meeting with Anthony Morrow‘s reps as well.
Carmelo May Take Less Than Max From Knicks
In their meeting earlier this week, Knicks president Phil Jackson told Carmelo Anthony he can have the team’s maximum 5-year, $129MM contract if he wishes. However, Marc Berman of the New York Post has learned there’s a distinct possibility Anthony will still decide to take a little less than the max.
One scenario would be Anthony starting at the max $22.4MM, but taking a 7.5% pay reduction in Year 2, as allowed by the collective bargaining agreement. That reduced salary for 2015/16 would give the Knicks a little more cap space next summer.
A source close to Anthony said he has confidence Jackson and General Manager Steve Mills will make the Knicks top-flight contenders in the future, but was unsure about their ability to upgrade the team for this season. Anthony understandably does not want to go through another 37-45 campaign.
“I don’t think the money ever was the most important part,’’ the source said. “I think his concern was, could they make the team better this season? He is comfortable in the outer years, but needed to be convinced about the upcoming year.’’
It was reported yesterday that Anthony left the meeting with the Zen Master feeling like the two men had a shared vision for the future of the club.
Thunder Sign Mitch McGary
The Thunder have signed first-round pick Mitch McGary, according to a press release from the club.
Taken by the Thunder with the No. 21 selection, McGary appeared in 47 games during his two years at Michigan where he averaged 7.8 points and 6.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game. During his freshman season, McGary was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Wolverines to the National Title game. During tournament play, McGary averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 1.7 blocks while shooting .678 percent from the field.
Several teams had their eye on the energetic big man, but OKC reportedly promised to take him at No. 21. He’s likely in line for a salary slightly more than $1.4MM, as our table of salaries for first-round draft picks shows. I took a closer look at McGary in a prospect profile.
Knicks Will Not Take Boozer In Sign-And-Trade?
JULY 5th: While some have been skeptical that the Knicks would go for Boozer in a sign-and-trade, new team president Phil Jackson would have to consider it, and a person with knowledge of the situation said it’s expected that he would, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
JULY 1st: The Bulls might want to work out a sign-and-trade deal with the Knicks for Carmelo Anthony, but they won’t be able to do it with Carlos Boozer, writes Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Chicago would probably want to include Boozer, who has been mentioned as an amnesty candidate, in such a deal, but the Knicks aren’t interested in the veteran forward.
Of course, this is all somewhat premature since the Bulls have yet to reach out to New York about an S&T scenario. Still, it stands to reason that the Knicks would want to get something in return for Melo if he skips town.
Boozer is set to earn $16.8MM this season and Bulls owner Jerry Reinsdorf is probably less than thrilled about the prospect of paying him for nothing. However, if he’s willing to go through with the amnesty clause, Broussard lays out some possibilities for the Bulls if they get Anthony to agree to sign. If the Bulls dump Boozer and trade away Mike Dunleavy for nothing, could start a four-year deal for Anthony at $15MM in the first year. If they moved Jimmy Butler as well, they could start Melo off at $17MM. Of course, that’s still less than the $22.4 million the Knicks can offer him next season.
And-Ones: Bogdanovic, Blatt, Anthony
Serbian shooting guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, the 27th overall pick of the Suns, is finalizing four-year deal with Fenerbahce, reports David Pick of Eurobasket. The deal contains an NBA escape clause after the second year, according to Pick.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer looks at the road that led to David Blatt becoming the latest Cavaliers head coach, and the challenges ahead of him with the franchise.
- The Knicks consider the Bulls the only real threat to lure Carmelo Anthony away from New York, writes Sam Amick of USA Today.
- According to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), the free agents the Heat have been linked to so far are Isaiah Thomas, Pau Gasol, Anthony Morrow, Marvin Williams, Kris Humphries, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion, and Caron Butler.
- Jay Yeomans of the Deseret News looks at why the Steve Novak trade makes sense for the Jazz.
- Sam Amick of USA Today (video link) examines the ripple effect across the league that the signings of Anthony and LeBron James will have.
- Joel Brigham of Basketball Insiders takes a look at what the fall back is for each of the teams that are trying to woo Anthony.