2014 September | Hoops Rumors

Celtics Notes: Rondo, Future, Turner

September 29th, 2014 at 2:34pm CST by Chuck Myron

Rajon Rondo seems like the most prominent trade candidate around the league for the season ahead, so naturally the focus was on him during Celtics media day today. There probably won’t be a move in the next several weeks, in no small part because of the broken hand that Rondo had within a sling as he spoke to reporters today. We’ll share some of the noteworthy comments from the All-Star and a prominent new teammate:

Rondo reiterated previous assertions that he would like to remain in Boston long-term, but he answered affirmatively when asked if he believes he’s worthy of the maximum salary, as Ben Rohrbach of WEEI and Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe note (Twitter links).
Some doctors have told Rondo that rehabilitation for his broken hand could take up to 10 weeks, but the point guard said the doctor whose opinion he trusts set the timetable at six weeks, Rohrbach tweets.
Part of Evan Turner‘s motivation for choosing the Celtics this summer was the persistent support of the team’s fans, even amid losing seasons, as he told reporters, including A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com (Twitter link). We passed along reports earlier that detail Turner’s contract, which finally became official today.

Blazers Pick Up Damian Lillard’s 2015/16 Option

September 29th, 2014 at 1:56pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Blazers have exercised their team option on the fourth year of Damian Lillard‘s rookie scale contract, the team announced. Chris Haynes of the Plain Dealer first reported the move (Twitter link). Lillard’s salary of $4.236MM for the 2015/16 season is locked in as a result, and it’s largely a perfunctory transaction, since it would have been shocking if Portland had let go of the budding star. The team will wait until the October 31st deadline draws near to decide on its other rookie scale options, for Thomas Robinson, C.J. McCollum and Meyers Leonard, according to Joe Freeman of The Oregonian (Twitter links).

The 24-year-old Lillard, who won the Rookie of the Year award in 2013, has quickly established himself as one of the league’s best point guards. He made his first All-Star Game and was on the All-NBA Third Team last season. His buzzer-beater at the end of the sixth game of Portland’s first-round series against the Rockets last spring lifted the Blazers to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2000.

Portland had little more than $13MM in commitments for 2015/16 before picking up Lillard’s option. That leaves GM Neil Olshey with plenty of flexibility to secure soon-to-be free agent LaMarcus Aldridge to a new long-term deal and build around the Aldridge-Lillard core.

Suns Rumors: Morrises, Bledsoe, Zoran Dragic

September 29th, 2014 at 1:38pm CST by Chuck Myron

Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby negotiated a total figure for Markieff Morris and Marcus Morris with agent Leon Rose, letting the twins decide how to split what turned out to be a $52MM pot, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic chronicles.

“They’re very close and we didn’t want to suggest anything that would be a disconnect to what they thought their value was,” Babby said. “I didn’t delegate the whole project to them but I did ask, ‘How would you divide it up?’ They’re so close and in it together that it was better to negotiate the total amount and then go to them for how to divide it. They desperately wanted to be together and they play better together. They motivate each other and it’s been fun for me to watch their maturation.”

There’s more from Coro’s piece amid the latest from the Valley of the Sun:

It would have been harder for the Morris brothers to stay together if they had hit restricted free agency next summer, GM Ryan McDonough said today, according to Coro, who writes in the same piece. That suggests the team pressured the twins to sign their extensions rather than let the October 31st deadline pass.
There are no option clauses or trade kickers in the deals for the Morrises, whose salaries will escalate each year, Coro adds.
Bledsoe largely repeated to reporters, including Coro, his assertion from the team’s statement on his new deal that he preferred to return to the Suns all summer, in spite of tense public negotiations (Twitter link).
Zoran Dragic was just a part-timer starter for his Spanish team the past two seasons, but McDonough is confident the new Suns signee’s game is on the upswing, as the exec tells Matt Petersen of Suns.com. “Guys mature and develop at different rates,” McDonough said. “Zoran is a bit of a late-bloomer, but I’ve seen rapid improvement lately. He was better when I saw him last year in Slovenia than what I’d ever seen before. He took another step and was even better this year in Spain than what I’d seen before.”
Suns owner Robert Sarver is calling for a new arena to replace the existing building, which opened in 1992, as Coro relays in a separate piece.

Suns Sign Zoran Dragic

September 29th, 2014 at 12:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

MONDAY, 12:36pm: The deal is official, the team announced.

“Zoran’s will to win and intensity stand out every time he steps on to the court,” GM Ryan McDonough said in the team’s statement. “He has been a very productive player in Euroleague, ACB and FIBA competitions. He excels defensively and in transition and I think our fans will quickly recognize his passion for the game.”

FRIDAY, 7:55am: Coro clarifies that a total of only $3.4MM will count against the cap for the Suns over the two seasons of the deal (Twitter link), so it appears as though the $4,012,500 figure that was reported earlier includes the $600K that Phoenix is allowed to contribute toward the buyout without it counting against the cap. That would mean the precise cap hits for Phoenix in 2014/15 and 2015/16 combined would come to $3,412,500, close to the figure that Amick reported, as we noted below.

Dragic confirmed the deal to Gal Zbačnik of Kosarki.si, while Unicaja Malaga formally announced Dragic’s departure from the team (on Twitter; translations via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia)

3:36pm: The total value of Dragic’s deal is $4,012,500, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).

12:26pm: The amount buyout for the BDA Sports Management client was negotiated down to $1MM, reports Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. It’s not entirely clear whether it was Dragic’s camp, the Suns, or both who pushed the Spanish team to lower its demand.

THURSDAY, 11:01am: The Suns are set to sign Spanish league shooting guard Zoran Dragic to a two-year guaranteed deal, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. It’ll be worth a total of $3.5MM, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Multiple reports from earlier indicated that Dragic had informed Spain’s Unicaja Malaga that he was leaving the team and would pay a buyout of about $1.1MM, with the Suns having placed a two-year offer on the table. Phoenix appears to be using some of its approximately $5.7MM in cap space remaining after Wednesday’s re-signing of Eric Bledsoe.

The 25-year-old will join older brother Goran Dragic on the Suns, and the addition will ostensibly aid Phoenix in its efforts to retain Goran long-term. The Suns beat out the Pacers, Kings, Heat, Magic, Spurs and Mavs, all of whom appeared to show interest in signing Zoran Dragic within the past month. Houston, too, was in the mix earlier this year, and the Rockets were reportedly the leading contender for him as of May. The Rockets have also eyed Goran Dragic, who played a season and a half for Houston earlier in his career.

Zoran Dragic has longed to play in the NBA, though he appeared prepared to begin the season overseas. His buyout costs more than the $600K Excluded International Player Payment Amount that an NBA team can dole out without it counting against the salary cap and without the money essentially coming out of Dragic’s paycheck. Still, a report indicated that Goran Dragic, who’ll make $7.5MM from the Suns this season, would likely pay part of the buyout for his brother.

The recent FIBA World Cup helped the 6’5″ Zoran Dragic make his case for a spot on an NBA roster, as he averaged 12.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in more than 26 minutes per game and made 13 of 30 three-point attempts playing alongside his brother on the Slovenian national team. His numbers had been less impressive last season for Unicaja Malaga, when he put up 10.6 PPG and 2.7 RPG in 20.3 MPG while shooting just 32.7% from behind the arc.

The deal gives the Suns 15 fully guaranteed pacts, as our roster counts show, likely setting the roster for opening night. It further diminishes the chances that Earl Barron and Casey Prather, who’d been with the club on non-guaranteed arrangements, will make it to opening night.

Atlantic Notes: Turner, ‘Melo, Shumpert, Nets

September 29th, 2014 at 12:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

It’s media day for 25 of the NBA’s 30 teams, thus making it one of the busiest news days on the NBA calendar. We’ll round up the latest from the Atlantic Division amid the rush:

Evan Turner‘s contract with the Celtics is for two seasons and he’ll make $3.278MM this year, the value of the taxpayer’s mid-level exception, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link). It’s fully guaranteed with no option clauses, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The C’s still have the capacity to give out an additional $2.027MM via their mid-level, but by keeping Turner’s money to the equivalent of the taxpayer’s amount, Boston isn’t subject to a hard cap of $80.829MM this season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (on Twitter).
Carmelo Anthony acknowledged that he would have had a better chance to win if he’d signed elsewhere, but told reporters, including Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com that it “wouldn’t have felt right” if he had left the Knicks for another team (Twitter links).
It doesn’t look like the Knicks are going to grant an extension to Iman Shumpert, but the fourth-year guard doesn’t seem dismayed, as Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal relays (on Twitter).
Lionel Hollins made his mission statement for the Nets clear when chatting with reporters late last week, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post writes. “I’d like us to be tougher,” Hollins said. “[Be] more aggressive, compete harder every moment that they’re on the court, persevering through everything. “I want them to be tougher mentally. There’s a lot that goes into being a good team, and that’s the type of foundation that we’re gonna lay.”

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Thunder Sign Richard Solomon, Talib Zanna

September 29th, 2014 at 11:53am CST by Chuck Myron

The Thunder have signed power forwards Richard Solomon and Talib Zanna, the team announced via press release. Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman was the first to report the deals (Twitter links). The team also confirms previously reported agreements with Lance Thomas and Michael Jenkins. The team has the capacity to give more than the minimum to Solomon and Talib, both of whom went undrafted this past June, but it’s unlikely the Thunder did so. It’s not clear whether there’s any guaranteed money on their respective deals.

Solomon averaged a double-double as a senior this past season at Cal, notching 11.0 points and 10.2 rebounds in 29.2 minutes per game. Zanna came fairly close as a Pittsburgh senior, with 13.0 PPG and 8.6 RPG in 30.3 MPG, before joining the Sixers for summer league in July.

The moves will give Oklahoma City 18 players for camp. The Thunder have 14 fully guaranteed pacts, leaving Zanna and Solomon to fight with Thomas and Jenkins for the final regular season roster spot, presuming the team carries the NBA-maximum 15 players on opening night.

Celtics Re-Sign Christian Watford

September 29th, 2014 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

The Celtics have re-signed power forward Christian Watford, the team announced via press release. The statement also confirmed the team’s deals with shooting guard Rodney McGruder and point guard Tim Frazier. The C’s waived Watford on Saturday to accommodate the team’s acquisition of four players in return for Keith Bogans, but they had an agreement to re-sign Watford even as they let him go, since Boston released others to make room. The Celtics had the capacity to exceed the minimum salary with Watford, McGruder and Frazier, but it’s unlikely they’ve done so. The amount of guaranteed money for the trio is unclear.

Watford went undrafted out of the University of Indiana in 2013, spending time in summer league with the Pacers, Mavs, Pistons and Warriors the past two offseasons and heading to Israel’s Hapoel Eilat for the 2013/14 season. He averaged 12.3 points and 6.3 rebounds in 27.9 minutes per game in his final season with the Hoosiers.

The additions, plus the long-awaited official announcement of the C’s deal with Evan Turner, gives Boston 20 players for camp. Presuming Turner’s deal is fully guaranteed, the Celtics have 16 such contracts, plus a partial guarantee to Erik Murphy, meaning the team will have to return to the trading block to avoid having dead money on the books come opening night. It also means that Watford is unlikely to remain for the regular season, though it’s possible the C’s will retain his D-League rights.

Celtics Sign Evan Turner

September 29th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 29TH: The deal is finally official, the team announced via press release. Boston cleared room under the preseason limit of 20 players with a series of moves in the past few days to accommodate Turner.

JULY 21ST: The Celtics and Evan Turner are finalizing a deal for a portion of the mid-level exception, reports Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (on Twitter). The Pacers made the former No. 2 overall pick an unrestricted free agent when they declined to tender his qualifying offer last month.

The Wolves appeared to be Boston’s primary competition for Turner, who was reportedly Minnesota’s top priority even though the team apparently envisioned signing him to only a one-year deal. The length of his arrangment with the Celtics is unclear.

Boston has more than $78.7MM in commitments on the roster for the coming season, a figure that puts them above the tax line but below the tax apron. The Celtics can waive close to $7.018MM in non-guaranteed salary, but in any case, the team won’t be able to sign Turner to a starting salary exceeding $3.278MM without triggering a hard cap of $80.829MM for this season.

Celtics Waive Malcolm Thomas, John Lucas III

September 29th, 2014 at 11:07am CST by Eddie Scarito

MONDAY, 11:07am: The releases are official, the team announced.

SUNDAY, 4:26pm: The Celtics have waived Malcolm Thomas and John Lucas III, Marc Stein of ESPN.com is reporting (Twitter link). Both players were recently acquired in the trade that sent Keith Bogans to the Cavaliers, and Bogans has since been traded to the Sixers in a move that garnered Cleveland a valuable trade exception. The Celtics, too, were afforded a trade exception for the same $5,285,817 amount when they relinquished Bogans.

A roster move was expected from the Celtics who had 21 players on their preseason roster. That number includes Evan Turner whose signing has not been formally announced yet. This should change shortly now that Boston is down to 19 players after waiving Thomas and Lucas.

The team had waived Christian Watford on Friday, but reports have indicated that the team intends to re-sign the forward this week. So, Watford’s return would put Boston at the preseason limit of 20 players, including Turner, meaning the team’s camp roster is likely set.

Magic Sign Curry, Batts, Crawford For Camp

September 29th, 2014 at 10:40am CST by Chuck Myron

SEPTEMBER 29TH: All three deals are official, the team announced via press release.

SEPTEMBER 16TH: The Magic are bringing one-year veteran Seth Curry and the undrafted Kadeem Batts and Drew Crawford to camp, according to Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter link). They’ll join fellow camp invitee Peyton Siva, who reportedly agreed to his deal in July. Orlando still has cap space available, but while it could give one or all of Curry, Batts and Crawford more than the minimum, it seems unlikely the team would do that. Siva received a partial guarantee in his pact, so it’s a distinct possibility that the other three will see at least nominal guarantees as part of their contracts.

Curry had reportedly been weighing overseas opportunities earlier this summer, but he’ll be in an NBA camp for the second straight autumn after joining his brother, Stephen Curry with the Warriors for the 2013 preseason. Seth Curry later resurfaced briefly with the Grizzlies and on a 10-day contract with the Cavs, but he saw action in just two NBA regular season games and spent most of the season in the D-League.

Batts, a 6’9″ power forward, spent the past four seasons playing at Providence, where he put up 12.3 points and 7.4 rebounds in 30.6 minutes per game as a senior before joining the Magic’s summer league team in July. He put up 9.3 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 19.8 MPG for the summer Magic.

Crawford, like Curry, has NBA bloodlines, since he’s the son of NBA referee Danny Crawford. The younger Crawford comes from Northwestern, where he put up 15.7 PPG and 6.4 RPG in 36.6 MPG as a senior. The 6’5″ shooting guard spent summer league with the Pelicans, averaging just 2.0 PPG and 1.8 RPG in 11.8 MPG.

The Magic had been carrying 16 deals, including 14 fully guaranteed pacts. That leaves Siva’s partially guaranteed arrangement and a non-guaranteed contract for Dewayne Dedmon that becomes partially guaranteed for $250K if he makes it to opening night.

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