Ray Allen Considering NBA Comeback
As the Warriors consider veteran free agents willing to sign on minimum salaries to help fill out their roster, Ray Allen‘s name has surfaced in recent days as a player Golden State may call. As it turns out, Allen is indeed mulling a comeback and his representatives have reached out to the Warriors, league sources tell Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
According to Broussard, Allen isn’t entirely sure that he wants to return to the NBA after not having appeared in a game since 2014, but he’s “intrigued” by the possibility of competing for another championship. Broussard reports that the longtime sharpshooter would also consider the Cavaliers, Spurs, and Clippers, in addition to the Warriors.
Per Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com, Allen’s reps have also reached out to the Cavs, and the interest between Cleveland and the 40-year-old is mutual. However, even though Allen and LeBron James are “extremely close,” the Finals MVP hasn’t been recruiting his former teammate so far, tweets Haynes.
As for the Warriors, they remain undecided on whether they want to pursue Allen, says Broussard. Based on what we’ve seen so far this week, with Zaza Pachulia and David West agreeing to join the team on below-market deals, Golden State may have its pick of veteran contributors, so the club figures to do its homework on all potential options.
Allen, who turns 41 later this month, last played for the Heat, helping the team win a championship in 2012/13 and get back to the NBA Finals in 2013/14. By the end of his final year in Miami, he was averaging well below his career mark of 18.9 PPG, but he still shot an impressive 39.8% on three-pointers during those two seasons with the Heat.
2016 NBA Free Agency: July 5 Recap
The fifth day of the NBA’s 2016 free agent period was the quietest yet, but there were still a handful of interesting stories to follow, including the fates of two longtime stars who have spent their entire careers with one team. While Dirk Nowitzki reached an agreement to re-sign with the Mavericks, Dwyane Wade remains locked in a stalemate with the Heat.
In case you weren’t able to follow along with our updates throughout the fifth day of free agency, a recap of the day’s highlights can be found below. We’ll provide these daily recaps through the last day of the July moratorium on Wednesday. Going forward though, be sure to keep tabs on our free agent tracker for all the latest updates on contract agreements for free agents.
Contract agreements:
- Dirk Nowitzki, F (Mavericks): Two years, $40MM
- Gerald Henderson, G (Sixers): Two years, $18MM
- Jason Smith, F/C (Wizards): Three years, $16MM
- Mindaugas Kuzminskas, F (Knicks): Two years, $6MM
- David West, F (Warriors): One year, minimum salary
- Willy Hernangomez, C (Knicks): At least three years, salary unknown
Trade agreements:
- The Spurs will send F Boris Diaw to the Jazz in exchange for the rights to G Olivier Hanlan.
- The Magic will send G Shabazz Napier to the Trail Blazers in exchange for cash considerations.
Other notable news/rumors:
- Dwyane Wade is reportedly seeking either $50MM over two years, or a guaranteed third year on his new contract, and remains at an impasse with the Heat. Wade is said to have received a two-year, $50MM+ offer from the Nuggets, and will meet with Denver on Wednesday. However, he canceled his previously-scheduled meeting with the Bucks.
- Teams have been inquiring about LeBron James, who is still a free agent, but agent Rich Paul has been “politely” informing those clubs that his client isn’t leaving the Cavaliers.
Previously:
And-Ones: Durant, Mack, Evans, Robinson
A contributing factor that led to Kevin Durant leaving OKC to join the Warriors was his frustration with the Thunder‘s offense and guard Russell Westbrook‘s tendency to dominate the ball, a source close to the “Slim Reaper” told Howard Beck of Bleacher Report. “Ultimately, he got frustrated and felt that they had plateaued,” the source told Beck. “[Coach Billy Donovan] came in, and he still had the same issues that he had with Russ under Scotty [former coach Scott Brooks]. The offense didn’t change much. He still had to take a ton of contested shots every game; and that’s when he had the ball at all. He’s never going to have a game in Golden State where Steve Kerr has to say at halftime, ‘You guys need to get Kevin the ball,’ which happened in OKC.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The chances are increasing dramatically that the Mavericks will look to trade forward Jeremy Evans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Evans, 28, has one year and $1,227,286 remaining on his current contract. Dallas is also exploring options to get JaVale McGee and his $1,403,611 salary off the books for next season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com tweets. If the center remains on the roster past July 12th his deal becomes fully guaranteed.
- The Jazz will keep point guard Shelvin Mack on the roster past Thursday, which means his contract worth $2,433,334 will become fully guaranteed, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune reports.
- Unrestricted free agent guard Nate Robinson hasn’t garnered much interest around the league and a number of teams have been turned off by his stated interest in joining the NFL, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated relays (on Twitter).
- The Warriors are seeking veterans willing to sign team friendly deals to fill out the roster and may be interested in point guard Mario Chalmers and center Kendrick Perkins, Rusty Simmons of The San Francisco Chronicle writes.
Latest On Dwyane Wade
10:03pm: Wade has a meeting scheduled on Wednesday with Nuggets officials that will take place in New York, Wojnarowski tweets.
7:34pm: The Nuggets have offered Wade a contract worth more than $50MM over two years, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Denver is holding out hope that the veteran shooting guard will accept its bid, the scribe adds.
12:37pm: Wade’s representatives have told teams that their client is seeking a two-year, $50MM contract, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, adding that the Nuggets and Bulls continue to stay in touch with Wade, who is also talking to the Heat. Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, meanwhile, reports that the veteran star is prioritizing a guaranteed third year in contract talks. Either way, it sounds like a two-year, $40MM offer won’t get it done.
The Bucks currently aren’t involved in the bidding for Wade, and while there have been rumors about the Cavs, there’s no traction between Wade and Cleveland at this point, according to Windhorst. Per Wojnarowski, the Bulls and Wade have talked about setting up a face-to-face meeting but nothing has been scheduled.
As for the Heat, Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets that they seem to want to hold firm on two years for Wade, even though they may be willing to include a player option and do another two-year deal next summer.
10:58am: Dwyane Wade has canceled a previously-scheduled Wednesday meeting with the Bucks, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). Lowe’s report follows up on a tweet from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, which suggests that Wade has canceled more than one free agent meeting. However, it’s not clear what other team(s) had been set to meet with the veteran guard.
Despite the fact that Wade played his college ball at Marquette, it always seemed like a long shot that he’d seriously consider signing with the Bucks this offseason after spending his entire career in Miami. After Kevin Durant opted not to sign with the Heat, Miami reportedly increased its offer to Wade to two years and $40MM, getting a little more serious about negotiations with the former Finals MVP. Although he didn’t accept that offer, Wade’s decision to cancel his meeting with the Bucks may hint that he and the Heat are moving closer to finding common ground.
Outside of Milwaukee and Miami, several teams have been linked to Wade since free agency began, including the Nuggets, Knicks, Bulls, and Mavericks. Of those teams, only Denver still had the cap space to pursue Wade. There has also been speculation that the Cavaliers could have interest in LeBron James‘ former teammate, though those whispers have been unsubstantiated. Even if Cleveland did explore that possibility, the team would have to trade multiple contracts in order to be able to offer Wade a decent salary.
Unsigned Draft Picks: Pacific Division
With the 2016 NBA draft now in the books, the term draft-and-stash will be mentioned quite often in regard to international players and late second-rounders. While some of these athletes will eventually sign with an NBA team, it seems like the majority of them stay overseas and never make it to the league. Those players in the latter category aren’t without value as they become trade assets for the teams holding their rights.
While many players fail to work out the way teams expect them to, they can at least become tradeable assets for teams that don’t want to part with a future second-round pick in a deal. Each team must give up something in a trade, which is why many swaps include top-55 protected second-round picks. Older draft rights held players who clearly will never come over to the NBA are essentially the same as flipping those heavily protected second-rounders, for all intents and purposes.
Listed below are the current unsigned draftees for the teams of the Pacific Division. These listings don’t include players selected in this year’s draft:
Golden State Warriors
- Mladen Sekularac — Selected No. 55 overall in 2002.
Los Angeles Clippers
- Maarty Leunen — Selected No. 54 overall in 2008.
Los Angeles Lakers
- Chinemelu Elonu — Selected No. 59 overall in 2009.
- Ater Majok — Selected No. 58 overall in 2011.
Phoenix Suns
- Alec Brown — Selected No. 50 overall in 2014.
- Dwayne Collins — Selected No. 60 overall in 2010.
- Ron Ellis — Selected No. 49 overall in 1992.
- Milos Vujanic — Selected No. 36 overall in 2002.
Sacramento Kings
- Dejan Bodrioga — Selected No. 51 overall in 1995.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic — Selected No. 27 overall in 2014.
- Arturas Gudaitis — Selected No. 47 overall in 2015.
- Luka Mitrovic — Selected No. 60 overall in 2015.
- Alex Oriakhi — Selected No. 57 overall in 2013.
Coaching Notes: Wizards, Nets, Grizzlies
The Wizards announced today that the team has named Tony Brown, Sidney Lowe, Chad Iske, Mike Terpstra and Maz Trakh as assistants on head coach Scott Brooks’ staff. Eric Sebastian, director of coaching operations, and Kamran Sufi, advance scout, were also named by the team while David Adkins will stay on as the team’s director of player development, according to the press release.
“The staff we have put together here in Washington is an impressive group of basketball minds with extensive coaching experience and knowledge of the game,” said Brooks. “I look forward to working alongside this versatile group every day in our quest to bring the best out of our players.”
Here’s more of the latest from the NBA’s coaching ranks:
- The Grizzlies announced via press release that the organization has hired Keith Smart and Adam Mazarei as assistant coaches on head coach David Fizdale’s staff. Smart spent the last two seasons working with Fizdale as an assistant coach for the Heat, while Mazarei was a player development assistant for Memphis the past three years.
- The Nets officially announced their coaching staff for the 2016/17 season. Joining new head coach Kenny Atkinson’s staff as assistant coaches are Jacque Vaughn, Chris Fleming and Bret Brielmaier, Adam Harrington as assistant coach and director of player development, Jordan Ott as assistant coach and manager of advance scouting and Mike Batiste as player development assistant.
- The Timberwolves are bringing in Brian Pauga to serve as player personnel director, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. Pauga previously worked with GM Scott Layden when both were members of the Spurs organization, Wojnarowski adds.
Eastern Notes: Horford, Kuzminskas, Crabbe
Al Horford didn’t take his decision to leave the Hawks to join the Celtics lightly, former teammate Kyle Korver tells Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution. “It was really hard for him to leave,” Korver said. “It was. He had a lot of life set up in Atlanta. He’d been there a long time. His family was all there. He’s got tons of great relationships in the community and in the organization. It was a tough decision for him. I don’t know if I ever thought he was leaving or not. I just knew he was looking at all his options. I encouraged him to look at all his options. I was like ‘Dude, this is your first time being a free agent. Obviously you know that I want you back and we all want you back. But look and see what’s there.’ I think that is the right thing to do. You want to feel good about coming back if that is your decision. Obviously we really wanted him to come back. He made his decision.”
“I think we are all a little surprised,” Korver said of Horford’s deal with Boston. “I think we were all hoping that it was going to work out, that he would come back. Al has been a cornerstone of the franchise for a lot of years. He’s been an amazing player and an amazing teammate and a great leader. We are going to miss him. But it’s a business. It’s his decision. We wish him the best. Grateful for all the memories and games and accomplishments that we had with him.”
Here’s more from the East:
- Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas, who agreed to a two-year deal with the Knicks earlier today, has been compared by some European scouts to a number of notable NBA big men, Marc Berman of The New York Post writes. One overseas scout told the scribe that Kuzminskas has “Danilo Gallinari skills’’ and is a good defender, while another said his game resembles a young Dirk Nowitzki’s in style, if not in quality.
- The Knicks’ primary competition for Kuzminskas’ services were the Hawks and Lakers, Berman tweets.
- There are conflicting reports on whether or not the Nets and restricted free agent Allen Crabbe agreed to an offer sheet, with the two sides set to meet again today. But regardless if an offer has been made yet, Portland missing out on adding Pau Gasol may increase the likelihood that the Blazers match any offer Brooklyn were to submit, Tom Lorenzo of NetsDaily writes.
Wizards To Sign Jason Smith
The Wizards and unrestricted free agent Jason Smith have agreed to a deal, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (via Twitter). It will be a three-year, $16MM pact, J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com tweets. Smith has a player option for the final season, Michael adds.
The 30-year-old big man spent the 2015/16 campaign with the Magic, appearing in 76 games and averaging 7.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.8 assists in 15.5 minutes per outing. Smith’s shooting line on the year was .485/.250/.806.
In Smith, Washington adds a big man capable of stretching the floor with his shooting when he’s on, though the former No. 20 overall pick (2007, Miami) only owns a career mark of .293 from beyond the arc. His most successful campaign from deep was the 2014/15 season when he nailed 35.7% of his threes for the Knicks. But Smith is certainly a solid addition as a role-player, with Smith set to compete against Andrew Nicholson and Drew Gooden for minutes off the bench next season.
Community Shootaround: Knicks Predictions
Knicks team president Phil Jackson‘s previous two offseasons at the helm of the franchise were underwhelming to say the least. Jackson failed to land another star in free agency to play alongside Carmelo Anthony, and if not for snagging Kristaps Porzingis in the 2015 Draft Lottery, the executive would have failed to add a true impact player during his first two years on the job.
Well, this offseason has certainly been a different story in New York thus far. Jackson has already acquired oft-injured point guard Derrick Rose from Chicago, come to an agreement on a deal with center Joakim Noah, added Brandon Jennings to spell Rose and reached a contract agreement with versatile two-way guard Courtney Lee. The team has also made a number of other low-key additions, agreeing to deals with Mindaugas Kuzminskas and Willy Hernangomez and re-signing combo forward Lance Thomas.
There’s little doubt that New York is an improved club over last year’s version, but the team and its fans should be nervous about how many games the new additions will actually be in uniform for given their respective injury histories. If Rose, Noah and Jennings can remain healthy — which is a BIG if given their track records — the Knicks could be a fun team to watch. Whether or not these moves will translate into a playoff berth is an entirely different question. One that I am posing to you this evening:
How will the Knicks’ new-look roster fare in 2016/17?
Here’s New York’s current projected depth chart, courtesy of RosterResource.com:
Starters: Rose (PG), Lee (SG), Anthony (SF), Porzingis (PF), Noah (C)
Reserves: Jennings, Thomas, Justin Holiday, Kuzminskas, Hernangomez, Kyle O’Quinn.
Are the Knicks a playoff team in 2016/17? If so, give us your win total and postseason seeding predictions. Or, if you think New York will be a bust next season, tell us why and provide us with your loss totals for the squad. We look forward to what you have to say.
Knicks Sign Willy Hernangomez
FRIDAY, 11:07am: The Knicks have formally announced Hernangomez’s signing, making it official (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 3:45pm: According to Frank Isola of The New York Daily News (via Twitter), Hernangomez’s deal will be for at least three years, which means the Knicks are using cap space to complete it.
3:00pm: After spending the first few days of July securing NBA free agents, the Knicks have shifted their focus to overseas players today. Having agreed to terms with Lithuanian forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas earlier this afternoon, New York has also struck a multiyear deal with a 2015 draftee, Spanish center Willy Hernangomez, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). The contract will be fully guaranteed, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
[RELATED: Knicks’ free agent agreements, via our Free Agent Tracker]
Hernangomez, the 35th overall pick in last year’s draft, didn’t see much action during Euroleague play for Real Madrid this past season, posting averages of 4.3 PPG and 3.4 RPG in 10.6 minutes per Euroleague contest (10.6 games). However, the 22-year-old did shoot an impressive 64.3% from the field in his limited action.
There have been multiple reports indicating throughout the spring and summer that Hernangomez planned on joining the Knicks this offseason. A May report suggested that the 6’11” center had rejected two offers from Real Madrid, and that it would take a significant shift in momentum for him not to wind up with New York next season.
That same report in May indicated that a four-year offer would be on the way for Hernangomez, but it remains to be seen whether or not that will be the case. Contracts signed using the minimum-salary exception can’t be longer than two years, but if the Knicks use cap room to sign Hernangomez to a minimum-salary deal, which they should be able to do, it could be for up to four years.