Cavs, Nets Joe Johnson Talks Stall
TUESDAY, 11:28am: Cleveland and Brooklyn haven’t spoken for three days, Broussard said on SportsCenter (Twitter link via Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com). Mazzeo indicates that the talks are dead as the Cavs focus elsewhere.
12:50pm: The Cavs were the first to show resistance to the deal, based on their tax concerns, and now the Nets aren’t all that enthusiastic, either, as a transcription of Broussard’s SportsCenter appearance on NetsDaily reveals. LeBron James, who wants the Cavs roster to be as loaded as possible, is watching as he lingers in free agency, Broussard reminds.
MONDAY, 12:20pm: The Nets have been looking for a third team to take on Varejao’s contract, but the talks with the Cavs are on hold for now, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter link via ESPN colleague Mike Mazzeo).
4:55pm: The Johnson trade talks are preliminary and not likely to be productive, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily.com tweets.
SUNDAY, 3:33pm: The Cavaliers are interested in using Brendan Haywood‘s bloated non-guaranteed salary as ballast in a trade that would bring in Joe Johnson, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Cleveland would have to send additional salaries to Brooklyn to make the salary matching work, but Windhorst suggests that Anderson Varejao is a possibility to go to the Nets.
The Nets have been actively shopping Johnson in recent days and they’ve had talks with the Grizzlies about the veteran. The Pistons and Hornets, also spoke with Brooklyn about him this past season, despite his severely bloated contract. Johnson, who averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 34.9 minutes per contest last season, is the second-highest paid player in the league at $24.8MM for 2015/16. He’s not a great value, but he is still a strong scorer and would give Cleveland some additional outside shooting. While moving his salary would lift a great luxury tax burden off of Mikhail Prokhorov’s shoulders, it would have the inverse affect on the Cavs’ finances.
Haywood has a $10.5MM non-guaranteed deal that has huge financial implications for a team if waived prior to August 1st. Trading for and waiving Haywood could save the Nets tens of millions in tax payments. Still, there would need to be more, such as Varejao, coming from Cleveland to Brooklyn in order to make a swap work.
The Cavs are poised to go over the tax threshold by quite a bit if they re-sign most of their free agents, as GM David Griffin has indicated he wants to do, but for now, they’re below the tax line, which is projected to come in at around $82MM when the league sets the figure at the end of the July Moratorium. So, they can take in as much as $15,522,500 via trade using the Haywood contract, which calls for a non-guaranteed salary of $5MM less than that amount, as long as that trade doesn’t take them into tax territory. If they do a trade involving Haywood at a point when it would either cause them to cross the tax line or when they already have crossed the tax line, they could only take in $13,253,125 using Haywood’s salary. The Nets are already well into tax territory, so they can’t bring in more than 125% plus $100K than they send out.
If the Cavs send both Haywood and Varejao to the Nets, it won’t matter whether Cleveland is above or below the tax line, since the salary-matching rules would be the same: The Cavs would be limited to taking in 125% plus $100K. Johnson’s deal would fit within those parameters.
Varejao, when healthy, is a capable rebounder and scorer, but health issues have dogged him in recent years. Over the last five seasons, Varejao has missed 50+ contests in four of those campaigns. In his “healthiest” of those five seasons, Varejao played in 65 regular season games. For his career, the big man has averaged 7.9 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 25. 8 minutes per night.
The possibility of moving Varejao could be behind the Cavs’ interest in free-agent forward David West over the last several days, Windhorst writes. West has indicated he wants to play for a Finals contender, and the Cavs have been attempting to recruit him, sources told Windhorst.
Suns Shop Markieff Morris
The Suns have been attempting to trade Markieff Morris, as Jordan Schultz of the Huffington Post hears (Twitter link). Schultz points to a poor relationship between Morris and coach Jeff Hornacek, and Phoenix’s agreement to trade twin Marcus Morris to the Pistons. Schultz is also hearing the suggestion that the Suns are targeting Ryan Anderson, among other power forwards (Twitter link), though it’s unclear if Anderson is indeed in their sights.
The Suns would have traded Markieff Morris if LaMarcus Aldridge had committed to come to Phoenix, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes, though Schultz’s report would suggest that offloading the remaining Morris brother is still a focus for the Suns even though Aldridge has agreed to a deal with the Spurs instead. The Morris twins are facing felony aggravated assault charges stemming from a January incident. The Suns had allowed them to divvy up $52MM in extension money this past fall, and the brothers prioritized sticking together, but Phoenix split the two even before their extensions kicked in. Markieff Morris is slated to make $8MM this coming season in the first year of his four-year, $32MM extension.
It’s unclear if Phoenix is looking to clear cap space with a Morris trade, as it surely would have if Aldridge were still a possibility, or if the Suns would prefer to trade Morris for a player who can contribute. Anderson would certainly fit the mold of a productive player, and his salary $8.5MM salary for this coming season is a match, but New Orleans would have to be motivated to give him up.
Timberwolves Sign Karl-Anthony Towns
The Timberwolves have officially signed No. 1 overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns, the team announced (Twitter link). He’ll almost certainly make close to $5.704MM this season, the first of his four-year rookie scale contract, on the standard 120% of the rookie scale, as our table of likely salaries for first-round picks shows. The formal signing represents one of the few types of transactions that can take place before Thursday, when the July Moratorium will be over.
Towns emerged as the top contender to become the No. 1 pick during the NCAA Tournament, even though his star-studded Kentucky team fell short of the national title that Jahlil Okafor, previously the leading prospect, came away with as a part of Duke’s team. Timberwolves coach/president of basketball operations Flip Saunders seemed like a late convert, but he ultimately came on board. Towns’ superior all-court game sets him apart, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors examined in his prospect profile.
The timing of the move, coming along with the team’s signing of No. 24 overall pick Tyus Jones and shortly after reports of agreements with Kevin Garnett and Nemanja Bjelica, likely signals an end to the major business of the summer for Minnesota, outside of trades. The team will almost certainly operate above the cap, though it will have a roughly $1.7MM portion of its mid-level left to make additions after likely having committed part of it to Bjelica.
Wolves Sign Tyus Jones
TUESDAY, 9:04am: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).
SUNDAY, 11:17pm: The Wolves signed No. 24 pick Tyus Jones, as Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities reports (Twitter link). The team hasn’t made any formal announcement, but Jones put pen to paper days ago, according to Wolfson.
Judging from the standard 120% of the rookie scale, Jones can expect to earn $1,282,080 the first year, $1,339,680 in year two, $1,397,400 the third year, and $2,444,053 during the final season.
The Wolves acquired Jones, a Minnesota native, from the Cavaliers. Jones, who has solid floor vision and leadership skills, was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four this year at Duke. Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors profiled Jones and described him as “quite possibly the best pure point guard in this year’s draft.”
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/6/15
The Lakers have failed to land a marquee free agent thus far this offseason, and unless LeBron James has a major change of heart regarding where he’d like to play next season, that’s not likely to to be altered. No disrespect to reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and forward Brandon Bass, but those agreements don’t necessarily qualify as franchise-altering deals. Adding big man Roy Hibbert via a potential trade could turn out to be a solid move for the team, and Los Angeles did add a potential superstar via the NBA Draft in D’Angelo Russell. But this season’s Lakers don’t appear on first pass to be a fundamentally better squad than the 2014/15 version.
But that’s just my take, and this is my segue to the question of the day: How do you grade the Lakers’ offseason moves thus far? If you’re a Laker fan, are you content with what the team has accomplished, or are any of you seriously contemplating switching allegiances to the Clippers as a result of your frustrations? What move that the team has made has impressed you/frustrated you the most? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions, or to simply vent your angst at the state of the purple-and-gold. We look forward to what you have to say.
Of course, there will always be differing opinions. While we absolutely encourage lively discussion and debate, we do expect everyone to treat each other with respect. So, please refrain from inappropriate language, personal insults or attacks, as well as the other taboo types of discourse laid out in our site’s commenting policy. Speaking of commenting: we’ve made it much easier to leave a comment here at Hoops Rumors. Just put in your name, email address, and comment and submit it; there is no need to become a registered user.
And-Ones: Health Care, Bucks, Hollins
In other news around the league:
- California’s 13.3% state income tax, the highest in the nation by a large margin, is a factor why the Lakers and Clippers are having trouble attracting free agents and keeping their own, Tony Nitti of Forbes.com reports. No-income tax states like Texas and Florida essentially nullify any inherent advantage teams in high-tax states have in re-signing their own free agents, Nitti adds.
- Bucks president Peter Feigin urged Wisconsin lawmakers on Monday to pass legislation that would make taxpayers split the costs for a proposed $500MM arena, according to Todd Richmond of the Associated Press. Feigin told them if construction did not begin this year, the NBA would move the team, possibly to Las Vegas or Seattle, the story continues. The Bucks, who currently play in the 27-year-old Bradley Center, have been warned by the league that if they don’t have a new arena by 2017, the league will buy the team and move it, the story adds.
- Free agent center Ryan Hollins has drawn interest from the Kings and Pelicans, a source told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Clippers are also looking at Hollins but haven’t made an offer, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Western Notes: Gasol, Durant, Kings
Marc Gasol‘s commitment means the Grizzlies can stay relevant and contend for titles for another four or five seasons, Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal opines. Gasol did not seriously consider signing with another team before reaching an agreement on a five-year deal worth more than $100MM on Monday. Gasol showed unusual faith in the franchise and took the high road by accepting a long-term deal, Calkins continues. He could have signed a shorter-term contract and taken advantage of the major salary cap increase next season, or put the onus on the front office to keep making moves to stay competitive, but instead chose to stay long term with a team that is not in a major market, Calkins adds.
In other news around the Western Conference:
- The Warriors would like to get in on the Kevin Durant sweepstakes as a potential sign-and-trade option next summer, according to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News. If they could somehow land Durant, it would not hinder the club’s desire to lock up Stephen Curry when his contract expires in 2017, Kawakami adds.
- The Jazz were interested in re-signing Jeremy Evans but he couldn’t pass up the offer he received from the Mavericks, Jody Genessy of the Deseret News tweets. Evans, who spent his first five seasons with Utah and appeared in 38 games last season, agreed to a two-year contract with Dallas for the league minimum.
- The Kings were prepared to give Tobias Harris a max offer sheet before the restricted free agent opted to stay with the Magic, Marc Berman of the New York Post tweets. Harris agreed to a four-year, $64MM contract on Friday. Considering that Florida does not have a state income tax, Harris didn’t take less to remain in Orlando, Berman adds.
Eastern Rumors: Jackson, Knicks, Smith
Reggie Jackson shakes off skepticism about the contract he agreed to with the Pistons and believes he’ll prove to be a bargain, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press reports. Jackson will become the highest-paid player in team history when he signs the five-year, $80MM contract that was hammered out on Sunday night. He was a backup behind Russell Westbrook with the Thunder until the Pistons acquired him as their starting floor leader at the trade deadline. “It’s a small sample size; I understand people see the small size and all that,” Jackson said to Ellis. “A lot of these players getting deals have been starters their whole career and are hitting game-winning shots and other things like that. In about two or three years I hope everybody says Reggie Jackson is underpaid.”
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- The Knicks may offer their $2.814MM room exception for teams under the cap to Alexey Shved, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports. According to the source, Shved, who played 16 games with the Knicks last season, has two other NBA teams interested as well a handful of European offers, a source told Berman. Veterans Caron Butler and Willie Green are two other players that the club is considering with its room exception, Berman adds.
- J.R. Smith wants a three-year commitment from the team on his next deal, according to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Haynes seconds the notion that Smith is unlikely to end up re-signing with the Cavs, as it seems like Cleveland doesn’t want to invest long-term in him. The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto wrote earlier that Smith “pretty much signed his exit papers” from Cleveland when he opted out. But Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets that the team has not abandoned its pursuit of Smith and desires to keep the 2014/15 core intact.
- Bucks coach Jason Kidd and GM John Hammond denied a report that Kidd would take over the team’s operations, Tamira Madsen of the Associated Press reports. The report from onmilwaukee.com also claimed Hammond would be reassigned within the Bucks organization or possibly leave the team but Kidd told the AP that was false. “There is no friction, there is no announcement,” Kidd said.
Atlantic Notes: Williams, Ridnour, Sixers
- While Joseph will be the second Canadian, along with retired Jamaal Magloire, to play for the Raptors during the regular season, that wasn’t the reason why they were so enamored with him, Doug Smith of the Toronto Sun writes. Joseph, who agreed on a four-year, $30MM contract to leave the Spurs, has impressed the Raptors’ brass for years with his toughness and defensive prowess, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise the club targeted him, Smith adds.
- Luke Ridnour said that he expects the Raptors to waive him before his $2.75MM salary becomes guaranteed Friday and confirmed that he’s still contemplating retirement as he spoke with TNT’s David Aldridge, who writes in his Morning Tip column for NBA.com. The 34-year-old point guard also dished to Aldridge about what it was like to have his contract traded four times in one week.
- The Sixers fleeced the Kings in the unofficial but agreed upon trade that sent Nik Stauskas, Jason Thompson and Carl Landry to Philadelphia, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer opines. Stauskas fills a backcourt need and the team can eventually decline a team option on his contract if the second-year shooting guard doesn’t pan out, Pompey continues. Landry and Thompson can become role models and mentors for their young frontcourt lottery picks — Jahlil Okafor, Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid, Pompey adds. With that trade, the Sixers will likely have less roster movement than the past two seasons when 48 players saw action, Pompey concludes.
Heat Engage Clippers About Jamal Crawford
The Heat have reached out to the Clippers to gauge their willingness to trade Jamal Crawford, a league sources tell Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, with the idea that he would provide depth and injury insurance behind Dwyane Wade. Still, a Clippers official who spoke with Haynes insists that the team is not shopping Crawford. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier that the Cavs have explored trading Brendan Haywood for Crawford and others, advancing an earlier report from The Plain Dealer’s Terry Pluto of rumors linking Cleveland to Crawford.
Cleveland would be able to offer superior cap flexibility in return with Haywood’s sizable non-guaranteed deal, though Miami could offer direct roster relief to the Clippers as they reel from DeAndre Jordan‘s departure. Heat president Pat Riley has denied that he’s looking to trade Chris Andersen and Mario Chalmers, though those names keep coming up. The Clippers would probably focus on someone who could provide more production, so perhaps they’d ask for Josh McRoberts, though that’s just my speculation.
Crawford is due $5.675MM this coming season, making him still a relative bargain even coming off his fewest minutes per game since the 2002/03 season. The 35-year-old’s salary became fully guaranteed when the Clippers elected not to waive him before last week’s contract guarantee date. The Clippers were apparently exploring the idea of trading him, if not shopping him, before the draft, with one report linking him to the Nuggets.