Greg Monroe To Accept Qualifying Offer?
10:56am: Zillgitt suggests in a follow-up story that a sign-and-trade scenario still could surface. Monroe received a pair of max offers this summer from teams other than the Pistons, but neither of those teams could work out a sign-and-trade with the Pistons that would have allowed Monroe to go to one of those clubs without the looming threat that Detroit would match, Zillgitt hears. The Pistons would probably match any offer for Monroe, as Vincent Goodwill surmises via Twitter, and presumably that would include max offers, which would explain why Monroe would be reluctant to ink a max offer sheet.
WEDNESDAY, 8:36am: Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy indicated late Tuesday that neither Monroe nor Falk has informed him of any decision to take the qualifying offer, according to MLive’s David Mayo. Van Gundy also reiterated that he’d prefer Monroe to sign a long-term deal instead, Mayo notes. Other teams don’t appear to have been as concerned that the Pistons would match an offer sheet for Monroe as Monroe himself has been, Mayo writes.
TUESDAY, 7:18pm: The Pistons appear to be holding out hope that Monroe won’t sign his qualifying offer, says Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter), who adds that the team will continue to do so until the 24-year-old actually puts pen to paper.
6:29pm: Greg Monroe has informed the Pistons that he will accept the team’s qualifying offer, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. It was noted earlier that Monroe had been seeking sign-and-trade deals with other teams, rather than looking to sign an offer sheet with another franchise, which the Pistons were likely to match. If Monroe does indeed accept the qualifying offer, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and be free to sign with any team he chooses.
The qualifying offer is for $5.479MM, which is significantly below the amount he would have received if Monroe would have signed a long-term deal with the Pistons. The deadline for Monroe to sign the offer is October 1st, notes Zillgitt, and the player cannot be traded without his consent once he does sign. This decision carries some risk for Monroe if he is to suffer a serious injury this year. But so far in his career Monroe has been extremely durable, missing just one of his last 310 games.
The David Falk client’s decision is historic, since he’ll become just the 18th player since rookie scale contracts were instituted in 1995 to sign his qualifying offer. He’ll be the most high-profile player ever to do so, since the maneuver has usually been the domain of restricted free agents who are without more lucrative offers. Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin is the latest player to sign a qualifying offer, having done so last month.
The 6’11”, 24-year old, has been in the league for four seasons, and his career numbers are 14.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 2.3 APG. His career slash line is .508/.000/.678.
Hoops Rumors Features
Hoops Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NBA player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:
- Two of the top 10 free agents as listed in our Free Agent Power Rankings remain unsigned, and other notables are a part of our full list of 2014 free agents. We’ve profiled several of them with our Free Agent Stock Watch series.
- We’re also keeping track of the 2015 free agents as the ability for LeBron James, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, Marc Gasol and others to hit the market next year begins to affect the landscape of the league.
- Our agency database is a handy reference point for determining the representation for virtually every NBA player.
- Several NBA teams can pay no more than the minimum salary to any free agent signee for the coming season. Our updated list identifies these clubs.
- See how far each team has come toward accomplishing the goals we outlined in our Offseason Outlook series, which provides a detailed look at where all 30 NBA teams stood going into the summer.
- Our list of outstanding traded player exceptions is updated whenever a trade exception is created, used or expires.
- Eddie Scarito recapped and graded the draft from the perspective of every team. He broke it down into divisions (Atlantic, Central, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest, Pacific).
- Eddie’s also looking back on notable trades from the past several years to see how they’ve panned out over time. He recently examined the deals that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers, Deron Williams to the Nets, and Kevin Garnett to the Celtics.
- Using our 10-day contract tracker, you can find any 10-day contract signed this year or in any season since the 2006/07. You can sort by player, team, year and other variables.
- We give you a turn in the spotlight when we showcase the best reader comments with our Hoops Rumors Featured Feedback posts.
- On Mondays at 4:00pm CT, I answer reader questions in a live chat. You can check out transcripts of our past discussions here.
- We’re tracking each team’s use of the amnesty clause. Our complete table shows which clubs have used the provision and which still have it available.
- The Hoops Rumors glossary helps explain some of the more complex concepts in the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement. Recently, I added entries on summer contracts and Exhibit 9 contracts, the sorts of deals that teams will hand out with frequency in the next couple of months.
- Zach Links rounds up the best of the blogosphere with Hoops Links on Sundays.
- If you’re looking to catch up, our Week in Review posts compile the top news and rumors from the past seven days, while our Hoops Rumors Originals posts recap the site’s original content for the week. Both roundups are published every Sunday.
- Be sure to check out the Featured Posts section on the right sidebar for more original pieces from the Hoops Rumors writing team. Recently, we looked at how salary matching rules affect the structure of the Kevin Love deal, detailed the many moves required for the Pelicans to acquire Omer Asik, and explored why Brendan Haywood‘s oddly structured contract represents a valuable trade chip for the Cavs.
Pacific Rumors: Bledsoe, Tucker, Curry, Ballmer
Although Steph Curry is heading into just the second season of a four-year, $44MM contract he signed with the Warriors, the All-star guard wouldn’t totally rule out making a jump to play for the Hornets one day when he spoke on The Dan Patrick Show, as Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group transcribes.
“I’ve always had thoughts about playing at home, what it would be like,” said Curry, who was raised in Charlotte. “My dad played there for 10 years… I love the Bay Area and where we are as a team trying to win a championship, and that’s what it’s all about. Of course everybody dreams about or thinks about what it’s going to be like to play at home. Obviously if that opportunity comes along it’s a different discussion.”
Here’s more insight from Curry, as well as a look at the latest from out west in tonight’s roundup of the NBA’s Pacific Division:
- The Warriors refused to include Klay Thompson in negotiations for Kevin Love, and Curry doesn’t doubt the team’s judgement, as Leung details in a separate piece. “I think they made the right choice,” said Curry of the team’s decision to retain his fellow Splash Brother, “Me and him in the backcourt and core that we have, we’ve got a legit shot at winning the championship next year, and I’m ready to take that on.”
- Eric Bledsoe is strongly considering taking the Suns‘ qualifying offer so he can enter unrestricted free agency next summer, hears Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, echoing a report from Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. Greg Monroe is set to sign the Pistons’ qualifying offer, and Zillgitt explains why it might be wise for Bledsoe to follow suit.
- P.J. Tucker‘s three-game NBA suspension for a DUI he got in May will cost the big man $155,455 in salary, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. Tucker re-signed with the Suns on a three year deal worth $16.5MM in July.
- It’s too early to discount the Suns’ playoff chances, says Greg Esposito of Suns.com, who looks over Phoenix’s roster and concludes that offseason acquisitions Isaiah Thomas and Anthony Tolliver will help further improve a Suns team that surprised pundits around the league last season with a 48-34 campaign.
- Sam Amick of USA Today examines the path that led Steve Ballmer to become the new Clippers owner. Ballmer, a lifelong basketball fan, has drawn positive feedback from Los Angeles players and coaches, as Amick passes along.
Extension Candidate: Ricky Rubio
Former Timberwolves GM David Kahn chose not to offer Kevin Love a five-year extension for the maximum salary in 2012, thereby leaving the team’s Designated Player title unused, presumably so the team could bestow it upon Ricky Rubio. The decision drew heavy criticism and caused tension between Love and the front office, but management figured it would all be kosher if Rubio could develop into the superstar that Kahn envisioned. Unfortunately for Timberwolves fans, the now-dismissed Kahn’s decision backfired, as Minnesota is set to trade away the disgruntled Love, and whether or not Rubio has the track record to warrant a maximum deal likely worth more than $84MM remains highly questionable.
Rubio, the former fifth-overall pick, tore his ACL late in his rookie campaign, resulting in missed time over the course of his first two seasons. The Spanish point guard has been playing pro basketball since he was 14 years old but has only experienced one full season in the NBA. In spite of a relative lack of NBA minutes, Dan Fegan, Rubio’s agent, is still seeking the Designated Player title for his client. It might seem like a stretch, but Rubio has proven himself to be a more than capable contributor when healthy. He fills up highlight reels with his extraordinary passes, and his knack for finding the open man is reflected in his nightly average of 8.1 assists against just 2.7 turnovers. It’s rare to hear any knocks on Rubio’s killer playmaking instincts, and at just 23 years old, he’s still got even more room to grow.
Rubio’s been more than just a playmaker, however, as he’s been top-notch on the other side of the ball, too. Many European players struggle to defend in the NBA, but Rubio has led the league in steal percentage each of the last two seasons. Having a point guard who can play excellent defense is especially critical in today’s NBA, where almost all of the top teams carry a floor general who can score from all over the court. Again, Rubio should continue to refine his lockdown defensive skills as he matures.
The most frequent dig at Rubio’s game is his notoriously awful jump shot. A career 36.8% shooter, he’s just 427 field goal attempts away from being statistically qualified to have the lowest field goal percentage since the ABA-NBA merger. His awful shooting has kept him from scoring more than 10.7 points per contest in any of his three seasons, leaving some to wonder if he can truly develop the superstar skills that a max contract would imply. While Rubio’s mechanics certainly aren’t pretty, it’s a bit perplexing that his field goal percentage could fall so low, given that he’s proven he can drop buckets in from behind the charity stripe with ease, posting a 80.1% free throw percentage over his career. Perhaps his aptitude for hitting free throws means he has the potential to develop a respectable stroke from the floor, but teams generally want to see more than just potential before they fork over packages in excess of $84MM.
Minnesota is open to giving Rubio a deal similar to the four-year, $44MM pact that Stephen Curry signed in 2012, but his agent’s desire for max money has the potential to keep the two sides from agreeing to any sort of extension. Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors predicted that there wouldn’t be a compromise between the Wolves and Rubio’s camp and that the Spanish point guard will probably hit restricted free agency next summer as a result. The 2015 free agent market is currently set to feature Rajon Rondo and Goran Dragic, but beyond that, no real impact point guards. The dearth of big name floor generals means a team that misses out on either of the aforementioned could be willing to float serious cash to Rubio in an attempt to make a splash signing, which would leave Minnesota with a tough decision on whether or not to match the offer. Of course, this all assumes the Wolves and Rubio won’t be able to reach an agreement, so it might be too early to start concocting such scenarios.
The path of restricted free agency actually might not be so bad for either side, however. It gives the Wolves another season to determine whether Rubio’s game is progressing enough to warrant a max contract, and it allows Rubio the chance to open up a bidding war between the Wolves and any rival suitors. However, the latter case is easier said than done, as we’ve seen so far this summer with Eric Bledsoe. Teams are often shy about temporarily tying up cap space by making players big offers that might eventually be matched.
Given that the Wolves are set to roster Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine, both lottery picks from this year, it might be premature to give Rubio the five-year, maximum extension. Signing Rubio to a five-year extension would prevent the team from doing so with either Wiggins or LaVine, and it’d be tough to sell fans on such a large investment in Rubio, especially given that the Wolves have yet to appear in the playoffs during his time heading the point. It’d be certainly unfair to solely blame Rubio for the club’s consistent lack of success, but handing over the Designated Player title to Rubio while the team features so much young talent might be seen as a mistake.
Handling the Love debacle is definitely the biggest issue Flip Saunders has been faced with during has time as Wolves president of basketball operations, but determining the best course of action for Rubio’s future with the team is probably the next most crucial on the list. Refusing to pay for a guy who’s a triple-double threat every night could come back to bite Minnesota, especially if Rubio improves his shooting as he ages. On the other hand, dumping that sort of money into a guy who’s yet to fully demonstrate his superstar potential could be a recipe for even more mediocrity for the Wolves. Whatever Saunders and company decide to do, it will greatly affect the future of the team going forward.
And-Ones: Williams, Curry, Tucker
Lou Williams believes he fits in better with the Raptors than he did with the Hawks and head coach Mike Budenholzer, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Williams expanded on his feelings, saying, “I am excited to a part of a young core, I am excited be on a team that wants me, that has a high expectation level for me. My time here in Atlanta, I realized that they were going in a direction that probably didn’t fit my style of play and I probably didn’t fit Coach Bud’s style of play. I’m a guy that needs the ball to be effective and they really didn’t need that from me. They were building a different core of a basketball team. I felt like it worked out for both sides, they got some talented guys in making moves this offseason and I feel great about the fit that I’m in.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The NBA has suspended Suns small forward P.J. Tucker three games without pay for pleading guilty to a DUI charge, the league announced (Twitter link; hat tip to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt).
- Stephen Curry believes the Warriors chose wisely when they declined to part with Klay Thompson in exchange for Kevin Love, as he said Tuesday in an appearance on WFAN Radio in New York. Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group provides a transcription.
- Curry was also asked on The Dan Patrick Show if LeBron James‘ decision to return home to Cleveland made him consider returning to his own hometown of Charlotte one day, notes Leung in a separate article. Curry’s response was, “I’ve always had thoughts about playing at home, what it would be like. My dad played there for 10 years, and people around the Greater Charlotte area in North Carolina have done a lot for my family growing up, so you always think about it. Right now I feel like I’ve got three years left on my deal, so this isn’t going to be an issue for me for a while. I love the Bay Area and where we are as a team trying to win a championship, and that’s what it’s all about. Of course everybody dreams about or thinks about what it’s going to be like to play at home. Obviously if that opportunity comes along it’s a different discussion.”
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Pacers Receive Disabled Player Exception
The NBA has granted Indiana’s request for a disabled player exception in the wake of the Paul George injury, reports Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). It’s worth $5.305MM, meaning Indiana can use that amount to sign a player to a one-year deal or acquire a player on an expiring contract via waiver claim. The Pacers may alternatively use the amount plus $100K to trade for a player, as long as the player’s contract doesn’t extend past this coming season. Still, it’s unlikely the team would use the full amount of the exception, given its tight squeeze against the luxury tax line, one which Larry Bird reiterated today that the club will not cross.
The Pacers had been among the teams limited to signing players for no more than the minimum salary, so the exception will at least give Indiana the power to exceed that amount. Indiana has a team salary of $74,810,552, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, which puts the club $2,018,448 shy of the tax threshold. The Pacers can afford themselves some breathing room if they release the partially guaranteed contracts of Luis Scola or Shayne Whittington, though Whittington seems a much stronger candidate to go. Donald Sloan has a non-guaranteed minimum salary, but Bird said today that the team intends to keep him beyond Friday, when his contract becomes fully guaranteed, so that’s one fewer avenue to salary flexibility.
Whittington’s rookie minimum salary is only guaranteed for $25K, so the Pacers could increase their room beneath the tax to $2,500,784 if they waive him. That would be more than $1MM in excess of what the Cavs can offer Shawn Marion for this season, since Cleveland can hand out only the veteran’s minimum. The Pacers have continued to make a push to sign Marion, who’s reportedly leaning toward inking with the Cavs instead. Bird said today that he believes Marion wants to sign with a title-contending team. Indiana’s hopes probably vanished when George went down, but Bird also indicated today that he doesn’t intend to make moves that would further weaken the team this year and will instead try to win as many games as possible, as the Star’s Michael Pointer chronicles (Twitter link).
Bird didn’t rule out the chance that George returns to play this season after suffering a compound leg fracture in a Team USA scrimmage earlier this month, but the executive acknowledged that the club expects George to remain out for the year. The league grants a disabled player exception based on a medical prognosis that would put a player out for the balance of the season, but there’s no penalty if the player surprises and returns to action. Any player acquired via the exception may continue to play for the team in that scenario.
Heat Sign Reggie Williams
AUGUST 12TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
AUGUST 7TH, 5:53pm: Williams and the Heat have agreed to the deal, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). It’ll be a one-year contract.
5:45pm: Free agent swingman Reggie Williams is nearing a deal with the Heat, reports Adrian 
Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Williams will provide Miami with some scoring punch off the bench, notes Wojnarowski. The 6’6″, 27 year-old went undrafted out of Virginia Military Institute back in 2008.
In parts of five seasons in the league, Williams has played for the Warriors, Hornets, and most recently, the Thunder. He appeared in three games last season for Oklahoma City, averaging 3.7 PPG, while making 55.6% of his field goal attempts. Williams also appeared in 25 games for Tulsa in the NBA D-League last year, where he averaged 20.1 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 4.9 APG.
For his career, Williams has averaged 8.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 1.6 APG. His career slash line is .460/.371/.743.
Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.
Clippers, Doc Rivers To Talk Extension
Doc Rivers and the Clippers are expected to begin negotiation soon toward an extension, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Rivers and new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who formally assumed control of the team today, have been anxious to forge a long-term working relationship, Wojnarowski writes.
Rivers, who serves in a dual capacity as coach and executive, has two seasons left on the three-year, $21MM pact he signed when the Clippers and Celtics worked out a deal that let him out of his contract with Boston. The 52-year-old had assumed control of Clippers player personnel when he joined the team last summer, but this June the club changed his title from Senior VP of basketball operations to president of basketball operations.
The notion of extension talks is an about-face from rumors that cast Rivers’ future with the team in doubt. Rivers publicly shepherded the team through the early days of the Sterling saga this spring, but weeks passed before he would definitely say that he had no plans to leave. Yet the specter of Rivers’ potential departure resurfaced last month during the probate trial to determine whether Shelly Sterling had the authority to agree to strike a deal to sell the team to Ballmer. Clippers CEO Dick Parsons testified that Rivers had told him he didn’t think he would remain with the team if Donald Sterling continued to own it.
Eastern Notes: Monroe, Harrington, George, C’s
The idea that Greg Monroe would take a max offer from the Pistons isn’t necessarily true, as Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said last month, according to Vincent Goodwill (Twitter link). A resolution to Monroe’s restricted free agency still seems a ways off, as we passed along earlier today. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Al Harrington hopes to sign with the Wizards after he returns from China, as he tells J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. He’ll make much more on his deal with China’s Fujian Sturgeons than he would have on an NBA minimum-salary contract, the forward also said in his conversation with Michael. The Wizards were unwilling to commit to re-signing Harrington before he inked the Chinese deal, Michael hears, though Washington was open to having him return as an assistant coach. Other NBA teams were interested in him as a player, Harrington said, but none of them were title contenders.
- Pacers executive Larry Bird isn’t ruling out a return to action for Paul George at some point this season, even though the team is “sort of expecting him [to be] out all year,” as Bird said today to reporters, including Michael Pointer of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). We rounded up more of Bird’s remarks right here.
- Celtics draft-and-stash prospect Colton Iverson has signed with Laboral Kuxta of Spain, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). David Pick of Eurobasket.com first reported the agreement (on Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for the 53rd overall pick from 2013, his agent tells Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com (Twitter link).
- Celtics summer leaguer Dairis Bertans received invitations to training camp from NBA teams, but he’ll continue to play in Spain instead, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM.
- Ray Allen has expressed a wish in past years that he could wait until September to decide whether to play the following season, so his unwillingness to commit to a team for 2014/15 is no surprise, as Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes in his mailbag column.
Steve Ballmer Formally Becomes Clippers Owner
The sale of the Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has formally taken place and the NBA’s Board of Governors has already given its official approval of the transfer, the league announced (hat tip to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register on Twitter). The news appears to bring an end to a saga that began when recordings of racially charged remarks from longtime Clippers owner Donald Sterling surfaced shortly after the playoffs began, though Sterling still has lawsuits pending against the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver. Ballmer is buying the team for a record price of $2 billion.
“I am humbled and honored to be the new owner of the Los Angeles Clippers,” Ballmer said in a statement that the Clippers released on their website. “Clipper fans are so amazing. They have remained fiercely loyal to our franchise through some extraordinary times. I will be hard core in giving the team, our great coach, staff and players the support they need to do their best work on the court. And we will do whatever necessary to provide our fans and their families with the best game-night experience in the NBA.”
Attorneys for Sterling had anticipated that a California judge could at any time issue a final order that affirmed that Sterling’s wife, Shelly, had the authority to strike a deal with Ballmer to sell the team, as she did in May. The judge had ruled in his preliminary decision that the sale could go through even if Donald Sterling were to appeal.
The Board of Governors interviewed Ballmer on July 15th, and voted unanimously last week to approve him as owner, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (All Twitter links). That gave Ballmer the opportunity to close on the sale whenever he became comfortable with the legal situation surrounding it, Shelburne writes. Ballmer had asked for a written order from a judge affirming Shelly Sterling’s right to sell as part of his original purchase agreement with her, and Ballmer has received that order, Shelburne also tweets. The judge has yet to issue a final order in the case, but Ballmer is apparently satisfied with the written order he has in hand, Shelburne adds (on Twitter).
Donald Sterling’s battle to hang on to ownership of the team cast doubt on the willingness of Doc Rivers to continue as coach and president of basketball operations, but Rivers, in the team’s statement, expressed his commitment to the club in the wake of today’s news
“This is an amazing new day in Clippers history,” Rivers said. “I couldn’t be more excited to work together with Steve as we continue to build a first-class, championship organization. I am already inspired by Steve’s passion for the game, his love of competition and desire to win the right way and I know our players and fans are going to be inspired as well.”
Clippers players Chris Paul and Matt Barnes as late as last month were publicly discussing the notion that they would boycott until Donald Sterling was removed as owner. Still, Silver won widespread praise for the lifetime ban and $2.5MM fine he imposed on the embattled owner in April. That maneuver nonetheless didn’t wrest control of the team from Donald Sterling, who originally purchased the franchise in 1981.
Shelly Sterling reportedly negotiated the right to retain up to 10% of the team that would be controlled by a charitable foundation on which she would serve as chair as part of her deal with Ballmer, but it’s not clear whether she exercised that right.