J.R. Smith To Meet With Cavs
Unrestricted free agent J.R. Smith will meet with the Cavs this week to talk about a new contract and is aware that there’s a decent chance he will make less than the $6.4MM he left on the table when he declined his player’s option with Cleveland in June, Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group reports.
Smith told Vardon he had discussions with the Blazers, but they did not amount to anything. Smith reiterated that he would like to come back to Cleveland. “I definitely want to come back to Cleveland,” Smith said. “The coaches, the team, everything about the situation, it’s perfect for me.”
The team was unhappy with Smith’s decision to opt out and started looking for a replacement, according to previous reports. At this point, most free agents, at least the top ones, have been signed and the list of teams with cap space is dwindling. Smith, 29, averaged 12.7 points per game and shot 39% from three-point range during the regular season with the Cavs after being acquired from the Knicks.
Eastern Notes: Jackson, Embiid, Raptors
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy, while appearing on SI.com’s Chris Mannix’s radio show (Twitter link), said the fear of Reggie Jackson signing a one-year qualifying offer played a big role in the five-year max contract Detroit offered. The five-year, $80MM deal was officially announced Monday. Jackson said the offseason moves the Pistons made prior to his agreement — Detroit added Ersan Ilyasova, Marcus Morris, Stanley Johnson and Aron Baynes — reinforced his decision, Brendan Savage of MLive.com writes.
“I knew this was the place I wanted to be,” Jackson said. “But definitely some of the pieces that we signed, that made it that much more sweeter.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News said on radio station 94-WIP (relayed by CSNPhilly.com) that Joel Embiid‘s navicular bone in his right foot was re-broken. The news comes one month after the Sixers announced that Embiid had suffered a setback and a little more than a week after it was revealed the center needed another surgery.
- Norman Powell, who the Raptors picked in the second round, will make $650,000 as a rookie, then $875,000 guaranteed in the second year and $1MM (not guaranteed) in the final year of a three-year contract, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- The Raptors used the room exception to sign Bismack Biyombo, Pincus reports (Twitter link).
Pistons Re-Sign Reggie Jackson
JULY 20TH 4:57pm: The deal is official, the team announced in a press release.
JULY 5TH, 8:57pm: The Pistons will re-sign restricted free agent guard Reggie Jackson to a five-year, $80MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). ESPN’s Chris Broussard tweets that the deal does not include any options.
The guard was at the Pistons’ summer league opener on Saturday and that turned out to be a good sign, as coach/executive Stan Van Gundy suspected it would be. Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower negotiated the deal with Jackson’s agent, Aaron Mintz of CAA, over the past 48 hours at the Orlando summer league, reports Wojnarowski in a full story. Jackson hadn’t pursued offer sheets on the market this summer, Wojnarowski adds. The deal also means the Pistons are confident that they can play Jackson and Brandon Jennings together next season, both on and off the ball, NBA.com’s David Aldridge tweets.
In our Free Agent Stock Watch Series, Dana Gauruder wrote about how Jackson emerged as one of the league’s top free agent targets after he was traded from the Thunder to the Pistons, who immediately installed him as their starting point guard. Jackson turned down an offer worth more than $12MM a year in extension talks with the Thunder last year because he wanted out of Oklahoma City and he wanted to be a starter. With his new deal, Jackson is looked at as a cornerstone for the Pistons.
Ty Lawson Gives Up Guarantee On 2016/17 Salary
As part of his trade to the Rockets, Ty Lawson has agreed to make the final season of his contract non-guaranteed, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). It’s quite a forfeit for Lawson because he had been fully guaranteed $13,213,482 for the 2016/17 season. Lawson’s new guarantee date is the day following the NBA Finals, or the day after the draft — whichever one is later — Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The non-guaranteed season gives the Rockets some peace of mind with the troubled point guard. Lawson entered a 30-day residential treatment program on Saturday. His latest DUI-related arrest came Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. It was the former Nuggets guard’s second such arrest in six months.
Lawson is due to make more than $12.404MM this season. As Lowe suggests (via Twitter), Lawson likely expects to be able to reel in more money with the salary cap’s expected rise next season.
Nuggets Waive Pablo Prigioni
JULY 20TH, 4:26pm: The Nuggets have waived Prigioni, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein tweets. Denver confirmed the move in its press release on the Lawson trade.
JULY 19TH, 9:13pm: The Nuggets intend to waive newly acquired point guard Pablo Prigioni, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). Prigioni is being sent to Denver as part of the Ty Lawson deal. The Nuggets appear to be committing to turning the team over to 2015 first-rounder Emmanuel Mudiay with today’s moves.
Prigioni’s salary of $1,734,572 is set to become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster past Monday, as is shown by our schedule of contract guarantee dates. Denver would only be on the hook for $440K, the amount of Prigioni’s partial guarantee, by waiving him.
What’s next for the 38-year-old from Argentina is unclear. He’ll likely draw offers from overseas, and the Cavaliers, who were reportedly trying to acquire Prigioni at last season’s trade deadline, could potentially look to him as an alternative to Matthew Dellavedova, who is still unsigned, though that is merely my speculation.
In three NBA seasons Prigioni has averaged 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 3.0 assists to go with a slash line of .437/.398/.872.
Rockets Acquire Ty Lawson
JULY 20TH, 4:25pm: The Nuggets have waived Prigioni, and the deal is official, Denver announced in a press release. In a condition of the trade, Lawson has agreed to make the 2016/17 season, the final year of his contract, non-guaranteed, sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). As part of the deal, the Nuggets receive cash considerations, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets. The press release from the Rockets notes that it’s their own lottery-protected 2016 pick going to Denver.
SUNDAY, 8:16pm: The Rockets have reached a deal with the Nuggets that will send Ty Lawson to Houston, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com had tweeted just moments earlier that the sides were deep in talks. Kostas Papanikolaou, Pablo Prigioni, Joey Dorsey, Nick Johnson and a protected 2016 first-round pick go to Denver, Wojnarowski adds (All Twitter links). Houston will receive a 2017 second-round pick in addition to Lawson, as Wojnarowski also reports (on Twitter). The first-rounder going to Denver is lottery-protected, and the second-rounder headed to Houston is unprotected, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. The move, when it becomes official, will bring an end to Lawson’s tenure with the Nuggets even though GM Tim Connelly and coach Michael Malone both expressed their support for the troubled point guard in recent days.
Chris Mannix of SI.com last week identified the Rockets as a team with interest in the point guard even in the wake of his latest DUI-related arrest, which came Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. It was his second such arrest in six months. Lawson entered a 30-day residential treatment program on Saturday.
Houston made more sense as a Lawson suitor than the Pistons or the Lakers, the two other teams Mannix identified in his report from last week, since both Detroit and L.A. made major investments in point guards this summer. The Pistons agreed to re-sign Reggie Jackson for $80MM and the Lakers drafted D’Angelo Russell No. 2 overall. The Lakers indeed made a determined push, but the Nuggets preferred what Houston offered, Stein reports (on Twitter). Rockets re-signed Patrick Beverley, but only for $23MM over four years. Beverley and Lawson now figure to compete for minutes.
The Kings and Nuggets reportedly spoke about Lawson prior to the draft, but Sacramento apparently wasn’t willing to give up the No. 6 pick in exchange for him in large measure because of the 27-year-old’s off-court issues. By contrast, Lawson’s talent appears to have convinced Houston it’s worth taking a shot on him, as he’s coming off a career-high 9.6 assists per game.
The trade nonetheless carries financial consequences for the Rockets. Lawson’s contract calls for him make more than $12.404MM this season and in excess of $13.213MM in 2016/17, and the exchange as reported so far will push Houston over the $84.74MM luxury tax threshold by about $500K, according to former Nets executive Bobby Marks (Twitter link). The Rockets have until the end of the regular season to go under that line and avoid paying the tax. Houston faces a hard cap of $4MM above the tax line if it signs No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell to a contract that covers more than two seasons at the minimum salary, as Marks also points out (on Twitter). The swap also means the Rockets aren’t in line to open cap space next summer, Marks adds (Twitter link).
The Nuggets meanwhile go under the cap with the deal and are set to open an estimated $46MM in cap space next summer, Marks tweets. Papanikolaou’s salary of nearly $4.798MM for this coming season is non-guaranteed, and Prigioni’s salary of almost $1.735MM carries only a $440K partial guarantee. Dorsey’s pay of about $1.015MM and Johnson’s approximately $845K salary are fully guaranteed, but they don’t make much of a dent in the Nuggets payroll.
The most significant on-court effect for Denver is that No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay, also a point guard, has a clear shot to lead the team. The Nuggets re-signed Jameer Nelson, who seems to have a decent shot to begin the coming season as a starter, but Mudiay is clearly the team’s future at the position, and Malone had no shortage of enthusiasm about his play during summer league, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
Did the Nuggets get a fair return for Lawson, considering the circumstances? Leave a comment to have your say.
Pistons Re-Sign Joel Anthony
JULY 20TH, 4:10pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 8TH, 3:21pm: The Pistons have reached an agreement with free agent Joel Anthony on a deal that will keep the center in Detroit, reports Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). The pact is for two years and $5MM, with the second season non-guaranteed, Ellis relays.
It’s certainly not a shock to see Anthony returning to Detroit. The Pistons were reportedly looking to bring back the unrestricted free agent, with team executive/coach Stan Van Gundy viewing the 32-year-old as an elder statesman who can be valuable in tutoring younger players. “Obviously we can’t negotiate with him yet, we can’t talk money,” Van Gundy told Ellis prior to the start of the free agent signing period. “I talked to him [June 26th]. Again, we’ve told him consistently we would like to have him back.”
Anthony appeared in 49 games for the Pistons during the 2014/15 campaign, averaging 1.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks in 8.3 minutes per contest. His career numbers through eight NBA seasons are 2.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 1.1 BPG, with a slash line of .509/.000/.661.
Rockets, Jason Terry Near Deal
4:00pm: Terry says he is close to a deal with the Rockets, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.
2:28pm: The sides are starting to close in on an agreement, as Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
JULY 20TH, 2:08pm: The Rockets have offered Terry a contract, a source told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Terry has Bird rights with Houston, so the team doesn’t have to use its mid-level exception to complete a deal.
JULY 19TH, 9:18pm: The Ty Lawson trade agreement, in which the Rockets are giving up guards Pablo Prigioni and Nick Johnson, among others, improves the chances that Terry re-signs with Houston, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link). Terry confirmed to Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston that the sides are in talks (Twitter link).
JULY 13TH, 9:46pm: Free agent guard Jason Terry is progressing toward a deal to re-sign with the Rockets, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Terry finished the 2014/15 season as the team’s starting point guard after Patrick Beverley was sidelined because of a wrist injury.
Terry and the Mavs reportedly had conversations about a reunion in Dallas. The 37-year-old played half of his 16 NBA seasons for the Mavs.
Terry played well last season and was a contributor during Houston’s playoff run to the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 9.2 points while shooting 35.4% from behind the arc during 17 playoff games.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Nets, Sixers
In Charley Rosen’s latest ESPN piece in a series about the Knicks‘ 2014/15 season, team president Phil Jackson spoke candidly about the team’s problems early in the year, and said J.R. Smith had been showing poor behavior before the trade that sent the guard to the Cavs. Jackson also said that Smith was expected to shoulder a lot of the scoring load and had not been doing his job. Jackson did not add any specifics about what Smith, who is still an unrestricted free agent, was — or was not — doing. One league agent told ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian Begley that Jackson’s revealing of player transgressions was a “classless move” (Twitter link).
“J.R. had been exhibiting some delinquent behavior and had gotten into the habit of coming late to team meetings, or missing them altogether,” Jackson told Rosen. “Also, [Iman Shumpert] and [Tim Hardaway Jr.] were regressing, so I decided to meet with them separately and try to find out what, if anything, was bothering them.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets have promoted Steve Jones, the team’s manager of video operations, to assistant coach for player development, the team announced. He replaces John Welch, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com points out (Twitter link). Welch left for an assistant coaching job with the Kings.
- Thomas Robinson, who is expected to be a reserve behind Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the Nets, is hopeful he can stay in Brooklyn and finally stop bouncing from team to team, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. Brooklyn will be Robinson’s fifth team in his first four seasons in the league. The Nets signed him to a two-year deal.
- Pierre Jackson‘s four-year deal with the Sixers will pay him about $3.7MM, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who adds that the first year is fully guaranteed and the fourth year has a team option.
Fallout From/Reaction To Ty Lawson Deal
Ty Lawson‘s drinking habit had concerned teams even when he entered the NBA, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe, who hears from several sources who say that it helped dissuade the Celtics from trading for him while they were in talks with the Nuggets before the February deadline. The video that depicts him smoking from a hookah and predicting that the Nuggets would trade him to the Kings as he watched Denver select Emmanuel Mudiay in the draft was a turn-off for potential suitors, too, Lowe writes. Lowe and others have more on the trade agreement, as we’ll pass along here:
- The Lakers were the only team other than the Rockets to express interest in Lawson shortly before the deal, according to Lowe, though Chris Mannix of SI.com heard the Pistons also did.
- Nick Johnson, one of the players heading to the Nuggets, didn’t get along with the coaching staff at the Rockets D-League affiliate while on assignment last season, several league sources told Lowe.
- The Nuggets face a scramble to complete the trade before the close of business today so that they can waive Pablo Prigioni, as they reportedly intend to do, before his partial guarantee of $440K becomes a full guarantee of nearly $1.735MM, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks details. Teams can waive physicals and the requirement that the players report, but it would be up to the Rockets to do so with Lawson, Marks notes. Also, players in the final year of their respective contracts must certify a trade before it goes final, so Denver has to get in contact with Prigioni, Kostas Papanikolaou and Joey Dorsey, Marks explains (All four Twitter links).
- Lawson is on board with the trade, agent Happy Walters told Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. “He’s excited,” Walters said. “I spoke to him once about it. He’s close with James [Harden], tight with Corey [Brewer], knows Trevor [Ariza] and Dwight [Howard] and is real excited. It’s an opportunity for him. He’s been deep in the playoffs before, but this is something he feels really good about.”
- Houston’s new point guard has his baggage, but the Rockets didn’t relinquish much in the deal, making it a risk that the rigors of the Western Conference demand that they take, opines Tim Bontemps of the New York Post.
- Lawson might not be the third star the Rockets have been seeking to complement Harden and Howard, but Michael Lee of The Washington Post points out that he’s the sort of facilitator that Harden has said he’d welcome.
- What’s your reaction to the deal? Leave a comment to let us know.