Nuggets Still Interested In Sergio Rodriguez?
2:40pm: There’s no truth to the latest report linking Rodriguez to the Nuggets, David Pick of Eurobasket.com tells Hoops Rumors.
8:33am: The Nuggets have been trying for weeks to lure four-year NBA veteran Sergio Rodriguez back from overseas, reports Javier Maestro of Encestando (translation via HoopsHype). Jesus Perez Ramos of Mundo Deportivo reported a month ago that Denver was one of three NBA teams eyeing the point guard who last played in the league during the 2009/10 season. Rodriguez confirmed soon after that report that he was considering an NBA comeback, but David Pick of Eurobasket.com wrote just last week that Rodriguez was staying in Spain despite talks with an NBA Western Conference team, as Real Madrid fought to keep him.
The buyout clause in Rodriguez’s deal with Real Madrid reportedly requires 2 million euros, or about $2.178MM in today’s dollars. It’s an amount that Rodridguez late last month referred to as reasonable, though the Nuggets or any other NBA team could effectively only pay $625K toward it. That jibes with a report in June from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who wrote that the buyout was not expected to be an obstacle.
NBA teams see Rodriguez as an elite backup point guard, Wojnarowski wrote then. The Nuggets officially traded Ty Lawson to the Rockets on Monday, but they still have the newly re-signed Jameer Nelson, No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay and Erick Green to play at the point. Green’s salary is non-guaranteed through August 1st. Denver can open up about $11MM in cap space if it waives Kostas Papanikolaou‘s non-guaranteed salary, too.
Rodriguez, the 27th overall pick in 2006, spent his first three seasons playing for the Blazers before finishing up with the Kings and Knicks. He averaged 4.3 points, 2.9 assists and 1.3 turnovers in 13.2 minutes per game over his NBA career.
Do you think Rodriguez belongs in the NBA? Leave a comment to let us know.
Pacers Re-Sign Rodney Stuckey
JULY 21ST, 2:13pm: The deal is official, the Pacers announced.
“I felt all along it was important to re-sign Rodney,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in the team’s statement. “He proved to us last year how much he could help. He’s a pro and a good teammate. We’re really happy to have him back. He added a lot to our team, on and off the court.”
JULY 5TH, 1:14pm: The Pacers and Rodney Stuckey have reached an agreement in principle on a deal worth $21MM over three years, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Year three is a player option, Charania adds.
Stuckey, 29, averaged 12.6 PPG, 3.5 RPG, and 3.1 APG in 26.4 minutes per contest last season for Indiana. He put up a PER of 15.4, which was more or less in line with his career efficiency average (15.3). Stuckey moved on from the Pistons, where he spent the first seven years of his career, when he signed a one-year deal with the Pacers last summer. After earning the veteran’s minimum in 2014/15, Stuckey has gotten a significant raise on his new deal.
This summer, Stuckey has picked up free agent interest from teams including the Cavs, Rockets, and Kings. Right before the official start of free agency, Candace Buckner of the Indy Star reported that at least five teams had their eye on the guard. At the time, an anonymous basketball insider told Buckner that he believed Stuckey had a bad reputation that was not at all accurate.
“Moody, can’t be coached, bad guy, can’t win with him,” said an Eastern Conference official, repeating the circulated gossip. “Anybody that really knows him, would know … he’s one of the most misunderstood guys in the league.”
Stuckey is represented by Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency, as shown in the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.
Nuggets Expected To Re-Sign Darrell Arthur
The Nuggets are expected to re-sign Darrell Arthur, NBA sources tell Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post. The team and the Jerry Hicks client reportedly engaged in productive talks at the start of free agency, but the Clippers later emerged as a team with which Arthur apparently shared mutual interest. The Pistons and Wizards were interested, too, as Dempsey reported at the beginning of the month.
Denver renounced its Bird rights to Arthur, but Dempsey indicates that the Nuggets are set to use some of the cap flexibility they reaped in the Ty Lawson trade to facilitate a deal with the power forward. The Nuggets can open about $11MM in room if they waive the non-guaranteed contracts of Kostas Papanikolaou and Erick Green and refrain from formally signing Emmanuel Mudiay and from making their reported deal with Will Barton official, so that their cap holds remain low. They won’t need all of that space for Arthur, but the Nuggets are expected to sign Danilo Gallinari to an extension this week, as Dempsey also reports, and if that’s a renegotiation and extension in mold of Denver’s new Wilson Chandler pact, it would take up some of that cap flexibility.
A new deal with Arthur would leave the Nuggets poised to have 15 guaranteed contracts on the books once the Barton and Mudiay signings take place. Arthur has been consistent in his two seasons with Denver, averaging 6.2 points and 3.0 rebounds in 17.1 minutes per game over that time.
Is keeping Arthur the right choice for the Nuggets, or should they seek out another free agent power forward? Let us know in the comments.
Jeff Taylor Close To Deal With Real Madrid
Three-year NBA veteran Jeff Taylor and Real Madrid of Spain are drawing close to agreement, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). The small forward who’s spent the past three seasons with Charlotte turned down an offer this past weekend from an Israeli team. Little chatter about NBA options for the 2012 31st overall pick has emerged since the Hornets decided against making a him qualifying offer.
Taylor served a 24-game NBA suspension last season stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor domestic assault and property destruction charges this past fall. He struggled to regain his place in the Hornets rotation after that, appearing in only 29 games. The now 26-year-old started 13 of them, but saw a career-low 14.8 minutes per contest. Taylor also spent time on D-League assignment.
Real Madrid is a European power, and if he closes the deal and excels for the team, it would likely give the former Vanderbilt standout a path back to the NBA. The Nuggets are reportedly trying to lure point guard Sergio Rodriguez from Real Madrid, but it’s unclear if that’s at all related to Taylor’s negotiations.
Largest Pay Declines From 2014/15 To 2015/16
Playing in the NBA is a lucrative proposition in just about any circumstance. However, to several players who signed new deals this summer, the paychecks they’ll see this season won’t look all that impressive. Amar’e Stoudemire is chief among them, even though he’s technically coming off a minimum-salary deal. He signed that contract with the Mavericks shortly after the Knicks waived him in a buyout arrangement, one that still left him with nearly $21MM from New York last season. The Knicks’ obligation to Stoudemire is complete, and in the season ahead he’ll see less than $1.5MM with the Heat.
It’s debatable how much more Stoudemire could have signed for this season, but we know that David West passed up a $12.6MM player option with the Pacers to sign with the Spurs for the minimum salary. It’s quite a statement about his priorities, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he feels a tinge of regret this year as he collects a salary much less than the value of his option or his $12MM pay from last season. Deron Williams was also a willing participant in his own pay reduction, agreeing to a buyout that turned what would have been a raise to nearly $21.042MM on his more than $19.754MM pay from last season into a pay cut in excess of $8.9MM.
We’ve factored in the money that Williams will receive on his new deal with the Mavericks as well as the pay he’s still in line to see from the Nets this season. Brooklyn figures to recoup some of that via set-off rights, meaning Williams’ reduction in pay will likely end up having been even greater when set-off is calculated at season’s end.
Also, we included the amount that Luis Scola was due from the Rockets through the amnesty provision in his total from last season on the list below. Additionally, we counted Jeremy Lin‘s actual salary, and not his much cheaper cap hit, from last season.
Carlos Boozer will probably join this group in the near future, as he’d face a stiff challenge to come close to the $16.8MM he made last season combined between the Bulls and the Lakers. For now, here are the players set to feel the pinch most profoundly this year:
- Amar’e Stoudemire, Heat, $1,499,187 (Last year: $20,910,988 with Knicks and $306,876 with Mavs) — total decrease: $19,718,677
- Jeremy Lin, Hornets, $2,139,000 (Last year: $14,898,938 from Lakers via Gilbert Arenas Provision) — total decrease: $12,759,938
- David West, Spurs, $1,499,187 (Last year: $12MM with Pacers) — total decrease: $10,500,813
- Andrea Bargnani, Nets, $1,362,897 (Last year: $11.5MM with Knicks) — total decrease: $10,137,103
- Deron Williams, Mavs, $5,378,974, plus $5,474,787 on buyout and stretch provision from Nets (Last year: $19,754,465 with Nets) — total decrease: $8,900,704
- Luis Scola, Raptors, approximately $3MM (Last year: $6,172,538 with Rockets via amnesty and $4,868,499 with Pacers) — total decrease: $8,041,037
- Marcus Thornton, Rockets, $1,185,784 (Last year: $8.575MM with Suns) — total decrease: $7,389,216
Aside from West’s minimum-salary deal, which deal gives the team the best bargain? Leave a comment to let us know.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Raptors Sign Ronald Roberts
JULY 21ST, 10:54am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release. It’s a multiyear contract, according to the team. Thus, it would appear that it’s a two-year minimum-salary arrangement, since the Raptors used up their cap space and spent their room exception on Bismack Biyombo.
JULY 12TH, 7:18pm: The Raptors are finalizing a partially-guaranteed deal with forward Ronald Roberts, reports David Pick of Eurobasket.com, who cites a source (Twitter link).
Roberts, 23, played for the San Miguel Beermen of the Philippines last season after inking a deal in January. Prior to signing overseas, he played in the D-League after the Sixers released him. Pick tweets that Roberts averaged 23 points per game overseas.
He spent less than a week on Philadelphia’s NBA roster in December, having been signed to replace Jorge Gutierrez and let go to accommodate Furkan Aldemir. The Adam Pensack client was also with the Sixers during the preseason, and he played for Philly’s summer league team after going undrafted out of St. Joseph’s last summer.
DeAndre Jordan On Chris Paul, Mavs, Clippers
DeAndre Jordan is scheduled to address the media today for the first time since he spurned the Mavs for the Clippers, but he got a jump start on explaining his story via The Players’ Tribune. Half of the piece is written and the other half is presented in a video, one in which Jordan’s struggle with his decision is apparent as he reflects on the events of two weeks ago. The entire piece is well worth your time, but we’ll pass along some of the most noteworthy quotes from the big man here:
On Chris Paul, with whom he reportedly had a rift:
“I love Chris, man. Chris is a big brother to me. When you play sports, you’re competitive — especially when you play them at as high a level as we have these last few years. And of course, yeah, we all bump heads during the course of the game. But we know that whatever criticisms or arguments we have on the floor, they’re about one thing: winning.”
On the doubt that crept into his mind following his commitment to Dallas:
“I woke up Monday morning [July 6th] feeling like there was something missing, like something that I didn’t do, something that was not covered. And that’s why, and that’s when I started to begin to have second thoughts. I feel like we’ve all had decisions in our lives where we’ve had second thoughts about things and have gone back and had to revisit a situation, and I definitely feel like that this was one of those times for me.”
On the Mavs:
“Originally, I said yes to the Mavericks because I thought I needed change. I thought I wanted change at that point in time. And they had a great presentation. They have a great owner, great coach, a championship team, but, at the same time, I felt like I didn’t give it all of my thought. At the end of the day, we’re basketball players and these great athletes, but we’re also human, and we make mistakes. We have emotions and feelings, just like everybody else.”
On the Clippers:
“I decided to stay with the Clippers because I’ve been with this team for seven years, and being on one team for my entire career was definitely important to me. I’ve been here since I was 19, so this is what I know. I love the city, I love the fans, I love my teammates and I love this organization.”
On the difficulty of breaking his deal with the Mavs:
“A lot of the guys who I was talking to during the process, they were friends of mine. That’s what made it so tough. Talking to these guys and really wanting to maybe partner up with these guys and play, and then not wanting to, it’s definitely a tough situation it puts you in. It puts you in [it] because you want to make the right decision, but you also don’t want to step on toes.”
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/20/15
Rockets GM Daryl Morey is no stranger to risks and splashy moves, and Houston’s trade for Ty Lawson represents both. Lawson was arrested last week on suspicion of DUI, his second such arrest in six months. Still, he’s finished third in the NBA in assists per game each of the past two seasons, an accomplishment that comes amid the league’s golden age of point guards. Lawson will make more than $12.404MM this season, but coupled with Patrick Beverley‘s affordable new four-year deal for about $23MM total, Houston gained depth at a key position for a reasonable price.
It’s all part of an effort to win the franchise’s first championship in more than two decades, which prompts the question of the day: Are the Rockets legitimate title contenders now?
It wouldn’t be altogether difficult to support the argument that they were in the championship mix even before the Lawson deal, since they had the second seed in the Western Conference entering the playoffs last season and made it to the conference finals. However, the rest of the Western elite improved this summer. The Spurs landed LaMarcus Aldridge and David West. The Clippers snatched DeAndre Jordan back from the Mavs, signed Paul Pierce and lured Josh Smith away from the Rockets. The Thunder are poised to return to contention with a healthy Kevin Durant and a full season of Enes Kanter. The Warriors kept most of their 67-win championship team together. LeBron James and the Cavs loom even if Houston can escape the West.
Take to the comments section below with your thoughts and opinions. We look forward to what you have to say.
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Southwest Notes: Gee, Cunningham, Barea, Spurs
The Pelicans used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Alonzo Gee and Dante Cunningham, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders passes along (on Twitter). Gee will earn $1.32MM this season, while Cunningham will take home a bit more at $2.85MM. That means New Orleans still has $1.294MM of its mid-level exception remaining and 10 guaranteed contracts on the books. We’ve got more contract details in tonight’s look at the Southwest Division:
- The front-loaded deal J.J Barea inked with the Mavericks will pay him slightly more than $16MM over four years, as Pincus reveals in his updated Dallas salary page. He’ll earn $4.29MM this season, $4,096,950 the following year, $3,903,900 in year three, and $3,710,850 during the 2018/19 season. The Mavs upped the Puerto Rican guard’s yearly salaries after missing out on DeAndre Jordan.
- It has been a busy offseason in San Antonio, and the most overlooked move that the Spurs have made is the addition of 7’3” center Boban Marjanovic, as David Pick details for Bleacher Report. Marjanovic was a relative unknown prior to last season, but his efficient play and massive size netted him some lucrative offers from European teams that he turned down in favor of the Spurs, as Pick relays.
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, David West, and Danny Green all have player options in the final years of their contracts, as Pincus notes on his updated Spurs salary page.
Pacific Notes: Pierce, Clippers, Suns
Paul Pierce, a native of California, is happy to be back home after signing with the Clippers, but the Lakers would have never been an option, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe writes. Pierce signed a three-year deal for approximately $10MM.
“It’s a dream come true to be able to come home, finally,” Pierce said. “I grew up a Laker fan but playing on all the Boston Celtic teams . . . there’s no way I could go there — so this was the next best choice. And it’s always been a dream to play in front of my family and friends.”
Here’s more on the Clippers and Pacific Division:
- Despite reports that indicated a rift between Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan played a role in the center agreeing to sign with the Mavericks before ultimately re-signing with the Clippers, Paul said he’s delighted to have the big man back, Justin Verrier of ESPN.com writes. “DeAndre, he’s like my big little brother. We talk a lot more than people realize,” Paul said. “It doesn’t matter; the only thing that matters is we brought in [Pierce], who I’m probably the happiest about because of his championship pedigree, being that voice in our locker room. We brought in [Lance Stephenson], Wesley Johnson, brought Austin [Rivers] back, Josh Smith. Big summer for us.
- Suns president Lon Babby said re-signing Brandon Knight was the team’s most important move, Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic tweets. Knight, who signed a five-year, $70MM contract with the Suns, said he did not talk to any other teams, Coro also tweets.
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr expects James McAdoo, who is expected to compete for a reserve spot with the Warriors in training camp in late September, to contribute next season, Monte Poole of CSNBayArea.com writes. McAdoo split time between the Warriors and D-League last season.