Union Urges Players To Spread Out 2016/17 Pay
The union is advising free agents to structure their new contracts so they’ll receive their paychecks for the 2016/17 season over 18 months to keep money coming during a possible work stoppage, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News (Twitter link). A memo the union sent to its members cites the continued revenue that league received from networks during the last lockout in urging the players to keep their own income flowing, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Such an altered payment schedule wouldn’t have an effect on team salary calculations. The maneuver is unavailable to players who’ve already signed deals through the 2016/17 season, Amick notes (on Twitter). It’s also unavailable to those who sign minimum-salary contracts for that season, as fellow USA Today scribe Jeff Zillgitt points out (Twitter link).
The league and the players have a mutual option to terminate the collective bargaining agreement in 2017. A report from March indicated that NBA executives and agents alike feared one or both sides would opt out and a lockout would follow. The NBA has endured lockouts on multiple occasions, but only two, in 1999 and during the last labor negotiations in 2011, have resulted in the loss of regular season games. Progress between the league and the union is seemingly at a standstill as the union continues to search for an executive director to replace Billy Hunter, who was ousted at the All-Star break in 2013.
Wolves Open Extension Talks With Ricky Rubio
The Wolves and representatives for Ricky Rubio have begun discussions about a rookie scale extension for the point guard, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The talks figure to be challenging, Wolfson surmises, with Rubio coming off a disappointing season and the specter of a Kevin Love trade hanging over the heads of the Wolves.
Agent Dan Fegan represents Rubio as well as restricted free agent Chandler Parsons, Wolfson notes, and the Wolves are reportedly mulling a sign-and-trade pitch to Parsons and the Rockets as part of a Love deal if other Love trades don’t develop. Parsons’ stock is high but Rubio registered a career-low 9.5 points per game this year as he failed to show progress as a shooter or scorer in his first full NBA season after injuries curtailed his first two NBA campaigns. He nonetheless continued to show deft passing ability, averaging 8.6 assists against 2.7 turnovers per game.
Former Wolves GM David Kahn left the door open for the Wolves to make Rubio their Designated Player when he refused to give a fifth year to Love when he signed his extension in 2012, but the move has backfired. It seems unlikely that Rubio would receive the maximum salary required in a five-year extension offer. Still, Fegan appears likely to ask for a deal close to the max, with average annual salaries around $15.5MM. The sides have until October 31st to strike a deal, or Rubio will be set for restricted free agency next summer.
Eastern Rumors: ‘Melo, Waiters, Pierce, Blatche
As Carmelo Anthony is set to visit with the Bulls today, two sources tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that Anthony’s wife is quite satisfied with living in New York and doesn’t want him to leave the Knicks. ‘Melo and Tom Thibodeau are in agreement that the Bulls shouldn’t trade Taj Gibson in any scenario, even as the Bulls attempt to clear salary to sign the Knicks star, Berman also writes. Many around the league reportedly see the Knicks as having the inside track to retain Anthony, though the Bulls appear to have the lead among teams looking to take him away from New York. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Celtics have made contact with about 30 players in the hours since free agency began, with Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons among them, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
- Cavs GM David Griffin said Friday that he sees No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as “a big two-guard,” leading some executives to believe that the Cavs will look to trade Dion Waiters this summer, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This also explains Cleveland’s push to sign Trevor Ariza, Kennedy surmises (on Twitter).
- The Clippers loom as the largest threat to sign Paul Pierce away from the Nets, but the Nets still seem optimistic about their chances of keeping him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Nets GM Billy King reached out to all of the team’s free agents except Andray Blatche, as King told reporters today, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (Twitter link). That signals Blatche’s imminent departure from Brooklyn, Bondy concludes.
- Suitors believe they can pry restricted free agent Mike Scott from the Hawks with an offer sheet at the right amount, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pistons are expected to meet with Anthony Morrow soon, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
- Head coach David Blatt and lead assistant Tyronn Lue helped sell Kyrie Irving on signing the $90MM extension with the Cavs in their overnight meeting, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On Greg Monroe
10:27am: The Cavs, too, are considering a run at Monroe, according to Stein (Twitter link).
9:52am: There’s a “high possibility” the Pistons will swing a sign-and-trade if Monroe gets a max offer from another team, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 12:58am: The Hawks also contacted Monroe tonight, a source close to the situation tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball insiders (on Twitter).
9:48pm: The Blazers also have serious interest in a sign-and-trade for Monroe, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
8:53pm: The Pistons have made it known that they want to keep Greg Monroe but won’t rule out a sign-and-trade if his price tag gets to be too high, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein adds (link) that the Hawks are one team that keeps coming up as a potential suitor for Monroe when he officially becomes a restricted free agent.
You can add the Magic to the list of teams that are said to have interest in the big man, Stein tweets. Monroe, who is ranked fifth in Chuck Myron’s Free Agent Power Rankings for this summer, figures to have many suitors in the coming weeks. However, the big man doesn’t sound all that eager to take a free agency tour.
“Most people would rather, if possible, not to have to go through it and just re-sign with the team they are with so you can have some stability and be secure,” Monroe said earlier this month. “Right now it’s like the draft process all over again. You don’t know if you will have to change cities or where you will end up. It’s a good thing that there are teams out there that want me. But at the end of the day, if I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.”
And-Ones: Sterling, Parker, Crawford
Attorneys for Donald Sterling will argue that wife Shelly Sterling exerted undue influence on one of the two doctors who examined Donald and declared him mentally incompetent, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com details. Donald’s mental competency is no longer on trial. Instead, the probate trial between the Sterlings will center on whether Shelly followed the rules of the Sterling family trust, according to Shelburne. Those rules required that two mental health experts submit letters to the effect that Donald was mentally incompetent before allowing Shelly to take full control of the trust, Shelburne writes. Shelly agreed to sell the Clippers in May to Steve Ballmer, claiming that she fully controlled the trust, but Donald is fighting the sale. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Spurs kept Tony Parker through Monday, unsurprisingly, but doing so means his $3.5MM partial guarantee is now a fully guaranteed $12.5MM salary for 2014/15.
- Jamal Crawford of the Clippers had his $1.5MM partial guarantee bumped to a full guarantee of $5.45MM when he remained on the roster through Monday.
- Kosta Koufos remains on the Grizzlies, so his $500K partial guarantee is now a $3MM full guarantee.
- Parker’s teammate Austin Daye is also still with the Spurs, so his $250K partial guarantee is a fully guaranteed minimum salary.
- The Hornets kept Jeffery Taylor around, so his minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed.
- It appears as though the Magic are officially under the cap, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That means Orlando loses access to a $6,077,280 trade exception it could have reaped from last week’s Arron Afflalo deal.
- The Hawks didn’t give big man Gustavo Ayon a qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). There weren’t reports of qualifying offers to James Southerland of the Pelicans, Adonis Thomas of the Sixers and Bernard James of the Mavs, so presumably they’re all unrestricted free agents as well.
- The Wolves hired Ryan Saunders as an assistant coach, the team announced (on Twitter). Saunders, the son of Wolves head coach/executive Flip Saunders, had served the last five seasons as a Wizards assistant.
Bucks Hire Jason Kidd, Fire Larry Drew
The Bucks today named Jason Kidd their head coach, the team announced. It’ll be a three-year deal for $12-15MM. He replaces Larry Drew, whom the team let go after reaching a deal to pry Kidd from the Nets. Milwaukee relinquishes 2015 and 2019 second-round draft picks to Brooklyn as compensation. The 2015 second-rounder is actually Brooklyn’s own pick, which the Nets owed to the Bucks from a previous trade.
“When you list the characteristics that make a successful head coach, you would include leadership, communication and a competitive drive,” Bucks GM John Hammond said as part of the team’s statement. “Jason used all of those traits to become a 10-time All-Star player in the NBA, and has now translated his on-court success to the bench. We welcome him to the Bucks organization and look forward to building a Championship-caliber team with him as our head coach.”
In spite of Hammond’s remarks, it appears his job is in jeopardy. Kidd is coming over only as coach, but Hammond assistant GM David Morway had no knowledge of the contact between ownership and Kidd, and the prevailing sentiment around the league is that it’s just a matter of time before Kidd takes control of the front office in Milwaukee. Kidd’s pursuit of front office control in Brooklyn led to his departure from the team.
Lionel Hollins appears to be the front-runner to fill the vacated head coaching position in Brooklyn, while he’s also reportedly a serious candidate for the Lakers job. George Karl and Ettore Messina are also in the mix for Brooklyn, according to reports, while there’s conflicting information about whether Mark Jackson is also a candidate.
Kidd’s departure from Brooklyn after a single season as head coach brings a fitting end to a one-year tenure rife with surprises. His hiring had been the first shock, as he’d just finished his playing career that same spring. Kidd and the Nets tapped Lawrence Frank to serve as a highly paid assistant, but Frank was removed from the bench in the first half of the season and instead assigned to write daily reports for the team. Kidd’s Nets rebounded from a slow start to make the second round of the playoffs, but after Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr wound up with more lucrative deals to coach teams in spite of the same lack of experience Kidd carried into the Nets job, the Brooklyn coach sought more power.
Reports this weekend indicated that the Nets turned down his request for control over the front office, and when Kidd’s friend Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Bucks, made entreaties, all that was left for Brooklyn was to work out the compensation. The Nets were holding out for a first-rounder, but settled for the pair of second-round picks. The fallout in Brooklyn appears likely to have an effect on whether Shaun Livingston, who admires Kidd, will re-sign with the team in free agency.
Photo Courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com first reported the Nets and Bucks had a deal (Twitter link). Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, Marc Stein of ESPN.com and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported details of the compensation going to Brooklyn (All Twitter links). Wojnarowski also added that the feeling around the league is that Kidd will eventually take control of the Bucks front office (Twitter link). Beck noted that Kidd was just coming over to coach the Bucks for now (Twitter link). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported that Drew had been fired (Twitter link). Beck and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had details of the contract that Jason Kidd is signing (Twitter links).
Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, Gasol, Hayward, Jazz
The Knicks made a call to Carmelo Anthony shortly after free agency began overnight to remind him of their desire to keep him in New York, as Al Iannazzone details. That’s not surprising, of course, and while the Knicks feel confident in their ability to reel Anthony back to the Big Apple, his first face-to-face is today with the Bulls. Here’s more from the first day of free agency:
- The Lakers, Bulls, Mavs and Warriors made the first calls to Pau Gasol, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter).
- The Jazz spoke with restricted free agent Gordon Hayward tonight, a league source tells Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter). Both sides are expected to continue talks later today. Utah also has high interest in retaining Marvin Williams, Jones says (Twitter links).
- A league source tells Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (on Twitter) that the meeting between the Blazers and Spencer Hawes “went very well.”
- The Lakers, Heat, Bulls and Thunder all reached out to Caron Butler, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link).
- K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune adds Kirk Hinrich to the list of free agents with whom the Bulls have had contact since last night (Twitter link).
- After the Hawks called Kent Bazemore and the Celtics followed suit, the Mavs, Lakers and Suns also made contact with him, in that order, Kennedy tweets.
- The Celtics contacted Jordan Hill directly and also spoke to his reps at BDA Sports Management, according to Sean Deveney of The Sporting News (on Twitter).
- The Rockets will meet with James Johnson, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Raptors, Hawks Exchange Salmons, Williams
TUESDAY, 7:13am: The Raptors and Hawks officially announced the trade overnight before the July moratorium began. Williams and the rights to Nogueira go to Toronto while Salmons and a 2015 second-rounder go to Atlanta.
MONDAY, 10:00pm: The snag in the trade has been resolved. The Raptors will also send a 2015 second-round choice to Atlanta in the deal, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
The Raptors should end up with a $2.133MM trade exception for Salmons, Pincus tweets.
8:06pm: The Hawks still aren’t expected to keep Salmons past the new deadline, a league source tells Charania (on Twitter).
8:04pm: The Hawks won’t release Salmons today, and both sides have agreed to extend the waiver deadline to July 10th, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 8:25pm: The Hawks will indeed waive Salmons tomorrow, Wojnarowski reveals in his full story.
7:37pm: The Raptors have agreed to send John Salmons to the Hawks in exchange for Lou Williams and the rights to Lucas Nogueira, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN first revealed that the two sides were in advanced discussions of such a deal (Twitter link).
Salmons’ $7MM contract is only partially guaranteed for $1MM if he’s waived by the end of tomorrow, as Chuck Myron explained in our recap of upcoming guarantee dates. Given Atlanta’s reported interest in a run at a Carmelo Anthony/LeBron James pairing, it’s probably only a matter of time until Salmons finds himself a free agent. In 78 games for the Kings and Raptors last season, Salmons averaged just 5.0 points per game while shooting 36.8% from the floor.
Williams is a few years removed from his prime, but it’s unlikely the Hawks are giving up the former stud point guard and rights to Nogueira, a 2013 first-round selection, just to get $7MM off of their books. It’s possible, and maybe even likely, that this move is a precursor to a bigger deal, suggests Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). The trade should be finalized sometime tomorrow, tweets David Aldridge of TNT, giving Atlanta the window required to shed Salmons’ contract before it becomes guaranteed.
Spurs, Wolves, Kings, Calling On Livingston
The Spurs, Wolves, Kings, Hornets, and Magic are among the teams that called on Shaun Livingston after the official start of free agency, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. At this point, it appears that it will be a challenge for the Nets to keep the point guard.
The Nets are already extremely limited in the contract they can offer Livingston thanks to their luxury tax situation. Now, with a wide range of suitors, the odds get even slimmer for Brooklyn. The departure of coach Jason Kidd reportedly doesn’t bode well for the Nets’ chances to retain Livingston either.
Raptors Considering Offering Fifth Year To Lowry
1:27am: Raptors GM Masai Ujiri and coach Dwane Casey will meet with Lowry in Philadelphia later today, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo (on Twitter).
1:03am: The line of teams chasing Kyle Lowry is so long that the Raptors are now said to be weighing whether to offer a fifth year to clinch his re-signing, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. As Stein reported earlier tonight, the Raptors are pitching a deal with an average annual value of $12MM/year, so a five-year deal would be quite a get for the 28-year-old.
The Heat have been known to be fans of Lowry and really appeared to ramp up their pursuit early Tuesday morning. A source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) that Miami reached out to his agent, Andy Miller, and the sides are planning to talk in the morning.
In addition to the Heat, the Raptors will have to contend with the Lakers, Rockets, and Mavericks, who all reached out to Lowry tonight, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.