Central Notes: Waiters, Monroe, Morrow, Bucks
The Central Division has been a hub of activity again today, with the Pacers striking a trio of deals a day after the Pistons reached agreements with Jodie Meeks and Cartier Martin. Here’s the latest from the NBA’s busiest division in free agency so far:
- The Cavs aren’t actively shopping Dion Waiters in spite of apparent interest from around the league, but a source close to the shooting guard tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that Waiters believes there’s a strong chance he’ll be dealt.
- Multiple sources told Grantland’s Zach Lowe that Greg Monroe would sign his qualifying offer if Josh Smith remained on the roster, but Monroe’s camp denies it, and Lowe calls it an “empty threat” that represents the exercise of the restricted free agent’s only true leverage.
- The Pistons are no longer interested in Anthony Morrow after coming to terms with Meeks and Martin on Tuesday, reports John Reid of The Times Picayune. The Pelicans have been in contact to see if they can reach a deal to re-sign him, according to Reid, who suggests the Thunder and Bulls are suitors, too.
- Bucks owner Marc Lasry admitted it was a mistake to keep GM John Hammond in the dark about the team’s negotiations with Jason Kidd, observes Andrew Wagner of The Associated Press. He also apologized to former coach Larry Drew for the way the club handled his ouster, as USA Today’s Sam Amick noted earlier.
Magic Waive Ronnie Price
The Magic have waived guard Ronnie Price, the team announced via press release. His minimum salary contract was to have gone from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed had Orlando failed to release him by the end of July 10th, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.
Orlando agreed to a two-year, $9MM deal with Ben Gordon earlier today, crowding a backcourt that includes Victor Oladipo, Evan Fournier, Willie Green and rookie Elfrid Payton. The team also acquired swingman Devyn Marble, the No. 56 pick in Thursday’s draft.
Price was little-used last season in Orlando, appearing in only 31 games and averaging 2.4 points in 12.2 minutes per contest. Agent Mike Higgins will now help the 31-year-old look for a deal in unrestricted free agency.
Western Rumors: Suns, Love, Miller, Miles
The Suns have spoken with Pau Gasol, Trevor Ariza, Luol Deng, Spencer Hawes, Danny Granger, Ed Davis, Marvin Williams, Josh McRoberts, Gordon Hayward, Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas and Patrick Patterson, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Still, Coro cautions that they aren’t necessarily interested in all of them. Phoenix also made contact with Eric Bledsoe, P.J. Tucker and Channing Frye on the first day of free agency, Coro adds. Here’s more from the West, including a Kevin Love update:
- The Wolves are indeed insisting that the Warriors take back Kevin Martin in any trade involving Love, a source tells Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Minnesota is also holding firm on its insistence that Klay Thompson be a part of the Warriors’ package, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
- The Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, Thunder and the incumbent Grizzlies are among the teams pursuing Mike Miller, tweets Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal. He’ll allow the Grizzlies to make a final push before he makes his decision, and while he said on Sports56 radio in Memphis that he’s received at least five offers, he added that his heart is in Memphis, as Tillery notes (Twitter link).
- The Thunder and C.J. Miles had mutual interest before he agreed to sign with the Pacers, but Oklahoma City wasn’t willing to have the contract go quite as long as the four years that Indiana gave him, as The Oklahoman’s Darnell Mayberry tweets. The Thunder are believed to be limiting their new contracts this summer to two years with Kevin Durant‘s potential free agency looming in 2016, Mayberry adds (on Twitter).
- The Clippers have reached out to unrestricted free agent Ed Davis, reports Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
- The Jazz are among several teams interested in Kent Bazemore, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
Heat Telling Free Agents They Can Spend $12MM+
WEDNESDAY, 2:50pm: Bosh is seeking a deal worth $16-18MM, a source tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 4:00pm: Agent Henry Thomas, who reps both Wade and Bosh, told TNT’s David Aldridge that the salary figures reported for his client are inaccurate (Twitter link).
3:28pm: Ken Berger of CBSSports.com and Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report put the brakes on the idea of such deep discounts, having heard that Bosh and Wade aren’t expected to accept figures quite so low (Twitter link).
2:44pm: The Heat are telling free agents that they have more than $12MM to spend, indicating that Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh or both are willing to take major discounts, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The Oregonian’s John Canzano hears Bosh is set to sign a five-year deal worth $11MM in the first year, while Wade will get a four-year deal starting at $12MM. Grantland’s Zach Lowe hears those figures are $12MM for Bosh and $10MM for Wade (Twitter links).
Those numbers, together with the maximum deal that LeBron James is insisting upon, would appear to give the Heat even more flexibility, since LeBron’s max is projected to be around $22MM. That would leave the Heat with $44-45MM or so in commitments, not counting roster charges and the cap hold for first-round pick Shabazz Napier. The salary cap is projected to come in at $62.3MM, so it seems Heat president Pat Riley is leaving room for a player or two at above the minimum salary in addition to a $12MM acquisition. That might come in the form of a signing at the value of the $2.732MM room exception.
The Heat are trying to arrange a meeting with Kyle Lowry today, according to Windhorst, who also suggests the team could go after Marcin Gortat (Twitter link). The Heat reportedly see Luol Deng and Lowry as their top free agent targets from outside the team, and while Deng is unwilling to take a discount to sign in Miami, $12MM appears to be close to market value.
Nets Hire Lionel Hollins
2:32pm: The fourth year is a team option, but Hollins could make as much as $20MM total on the deal if the Nets pick up that option, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link).
1:57pm: The Nets have reached a deal with Lionel Hollins making him the head coach, the team announced (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that Brooklyn and the Steve Kauffman client were close to a deal this morning. The sides had been discussing a contract for four years and $18MM, Stein tweets.
Brooklyn moved swiftly to hire Hollins after striking a deal with Milwaukee on Monday to allow Jason Kidd out of his contract so he can coach the Bucks. The Nets reportedly spoke with University of Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie, and while George Karl, Ettore Messina and Mark Jackson were also rumored to be candidates, Hollins was seemingly the front-runner even before the Nets had officially let go of Kidd.
Hollins, 60, was also among the favorites for the Lakers vacancy, which is once more the only open head coaching position in the league. He meets Brooklyn GM Billy King‘s desire for an experience coach after the team experimented with the neophyte Kidd last season, having coached the Grizzlies to a franchise-record 56 wins and the Western Conference Finals in 2012/13. He’s 214-201 in parts of seven seasons as an NBA head coach, all of them with the Grizzlies.
The Cavs also met with Hollins about their coaching vacancy this offseason, as did the Wolves. The Jazz and Warriors had interest in him, too.
And-Ones: Raptors, Mayo, Prince, Lin, Rivers
I appeared Tuesday on WWL radio’s Sports Talk With Bobby Hebert and Deke Bellavia in New Orleans to discuss NBA free agency, and already the tenor of the market is taking shape. Lucrative deals for shooting guards Jodie Meeks, Avery Bradley and Ben Gordon have dominated headlines so far, and Gordon’s deal in particular has many free agents optimistic about their own market values, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets. The Raptors were already worried they were being priced out of retaining restricted free agents Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson before news of the Gordon deal hit, according to Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (Twitter link). Here’s more from around the league.
- Executives from multiple teams have been offered O.J. Mayo of the Bucks, Tayshaun Prince of the Grizzlies, Jeremy Lin of the Rockets, and Austin Rivers of the Pelicans in trade scenarios, league sources tell tell Kennedy.
- The Pacers have reached out to Rodney Stuckey, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star. He’s presumably a backup plan in case the team can’t reach a deal with Lance Stephenson.
- The Warriors could have signed Stuckey, who was willing to sign with the club for the mid-level exception, but they gave that money to Shaun Livingston instead, according to Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link).
- Spencer Hawes “likes everything about the Blazers” and is “very interested” in signing with them, a source tells The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman. Portland has made Hawes their top target among sharpshooting big men, but he’s still in no rush to come to deal, Freeman writes.
- Vince Carter is receiving a steady stream of pitches from the Heat and others, but the Mavs maintain strong interest in re-signing the swingman, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
- The Magic claimed Willie Green off waivers Monday, and while they still had the chance to put him back on waivers before his non-guaranteed minimum salary became fully guaranteed, they didn’t do so before Tuesday’s deadline, so his money will stay on the books.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Pacers Sign Shayne Whittington
11:59am: The deal is official, the Pacers have announced. It’s a minimum salary contract, since it couldn’t otherwise become official during the July moratorium. He suffered his injury, a broken left fibula, in early May, according to the release. That explains why there were no reports of him having gone through predraft auditions for clubs.
11:30am: The Pacers will sign Western Michigan power forward Shayne Whittington to a one-year, partially guaranteed contract, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). That’s in spite of a knee injury that will force Whittington to miss the first half of the season, as Wojnarowski also tweets.
Whittington went undrafted after putting up 16.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game as a senior this past season. The client of Ronald Shade and Herb Rudoy didn’t appear to garner much attention on the predraft workout circuit, but he did impress in the Portsmouth Invitation Tournament, according to Wojnarowski.
Indiana has struck deals with a pair of power forwards today, reeling in Spanish league sharpshooter Damjan Rudez in addition to Whittington. Still, both are untested commodities against NBA competition, and the team has no plans to waive the partially guaranteed contract of Luis Scola, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star reported earlier.
Latest On Gordon Hayward
WEDNESDAY, 11:53am: Hayward is meeting with the Cavs in Cleveland today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
TUESDAY, 5:22pm: The Jazz clearly want to keep restricted free agent Gordon Hayward, but it seems like other teams will give them a run for their money. The Jazz are vowing to match any offer to Hayward gets but Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) is hearing fresh rumbles that the Cavs are thinking about giving the forward a hefty offer sheet.
The Celtics love Hayward too, but A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (via Twitter) hears from a source that it’s “highly unlikely” that the C’s will land him. That same source reiterated that the Jazz plan to match any offer sent his way. Still, Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) notes that there is mutual interest between the RFA and Boston. Coach Brad Stevens would love to have Hayward on his roster and the feeling is reciprocated from the 24-year-old.
Nets Close To Deal With Lionel Hollins
11:48am: Hollins and the Nets will likely come to a deal worth $4-5MM a season over four to five years, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com
8:41am: Hollins would end up with more than $4MM per year in the deal the two sides are closing in on, Stein adds.
WEDNESDAY, 8:31am: The Nets are nearing an agreement with Hollins, with the expectation that they’ll strike a deal today, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
TUESDAY, 2:35pm: The Nets talked to Kevin Ollie about the job, but he said he’s content at the University of Connecticut, Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News tweets.
11:24am: The Nets are more or less focused solely on Hollins, in spite of King’s statements to the contrary, according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter).
9:58am: A source tells Marc Stein of ESPN.com that the Nets are “lasered in” on Hollins, and that such was the case even before they met with him (Twitter link).
9:41am: Hollins wasn’t the first person with whom King spoke, but the GM won’t identify who was, Vasquez notes (via Twitter).
9:23am: Regardless of whom the Nets hire, it’s likely to be someone with experience, King also indicated, as The Record’s Andy Vasquez tweets. That would seem to cast doubt on Messina’s candidacy.
TUESDAY, 9:16am: Nets GM Billy King had dinner on Monday with Hollins and will meet with him again this morning, as King told reporters, including Newsday’s Roderick Boone (Twitter link). Still, King has reached out to other candidates and says he can envision those talks progressing, tweets Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
MONDAY, 5:41pm: The Lakers have renewed interest in Hollins as well, a source tells USA Today’s Sam Amick. Los Angeles hopes to talk with Hollins or his representatives later this week. Byron Scott has been considered to be the frontrunner for the L.A. job.
4:27pm: The Nets have arranged for a meeting with coaching target Lionel Hollins, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Wojnarowski terms Hollins as the Nets’ “top coaching target.” The two sides will meet in the next 24-48 hours.
The Nets, of course, are in the market for a new head coach after reaching agreement on a deal with the Bucks that sends Jason Kidd to Milwaukee in exchange for a pair of second-round selections. George Karl and Ettore Messina also appear to be the mix for Brooklyn, while Mark Jackson may or may not be a candidate.
Hollins, the former Grizzlies’ head coach, has interviewed for several of this offseason’s top jobs.
Magic Sign Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton
10:01am: Their contracts are indeed for 120% of the rookie scale, as Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel tweets.
9:44am: The Magic have signed No. 4 overall pick Aaron Gordon and Elfrid Payton, the 10th overall pick, the team announced via press release. Official signings with first-round picks are one of the few maneuvers allowed during the July moratorium. They’re both presumably getting the standard 120% of the rookie scale, so Gordon will likely make slightly more than $3.992MM this season while Payton will probably draw nearly $2.398MM, as our table of salaries for first-round picks shows.
Orlando pulled a surprise with its choice of Gordon, a power forward from Arizona, while Dante Exum and Marcus Smart were still on the board, but the team filled its need for a point guard not long after, swinging a trade to acquire Payton. Orlando gave up No. 12 pick Dario Saric, a 2017 first-rounder and a 2015 second-rounder to the Sixers in exchange for the point guard from Louisiana-Lafayette.
Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors gave the Magic an A for their draft, one in which they also netted No. 56 overall pick Devyn Marble. Still, he pointed to the risk involved with Gordon when he examined him as part of our Prospect Profile Series.