Blazers Sign Evan Turner To Four-Year Deal
JULY 7th, 12:22am: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 1st, 2:30pm: With Chandler Parsons no longer in play, the Trail Blazers have landed another one of their top perimeter free agents, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, who reports that Portland has reached an agreement with Evan Turner on a four-year deal worth about $70MM. As ESPN’s Kevin Pelton tweets, that’s about the most the Blazers could have offered a player without renouncing any of their own key free agents.
A former second overall pick, Turner has never developed into a star player, but the 27-year-old has been a solid role player for the Celtics over the last couple years. In 2015/16, he averaged 10.5 points per game to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and a .456 field-goal percentage.
The Knicks, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Lakers, Grizzlies, and Celtics had been mentioned as potential suitors for Turner, with Portland’s interest having been kept relatively under wraps. As noted above, Turner appeared to be a fallback option for the Blazers after Parsons turned down a max offer from the team.
Even after reaching a big-money agreement with Turner, the Blazers aren’t done free agent shopping. According to Wojnarowski, Portland has also made an “aggressive” offer to big man Pau Gasol. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com first reported that the Blazers had interest in Gasol.
If Portland lands Gasol, it seems likely that at least a couple of the club’s restricted free agents will end up elsewhere. The Blazers currently have qualifying offers out to Allen Crabbe, Meyers Leonard, and Maurice Harkless.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bucks Sign Mirza Teletovic
JULY 8: The Bucks have formally announced their deal with Teletovic, via a team release.
JULY 1: The Bucks and unrestricted free agent Mirza Teletovic have reached an agreement on a multiyear contract, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). The proposed deal is for three years and $30MM, Stein adds. Michael Scotto of The Associated Press tweets that the contract won’t contain any player or team options.
In Teletovic, Milwaukee adds a badly needed stretch-four to its rotation, an area the team was reportedly determined to address this offseason. It’s doubtful Teletovic will be a starter, but he should be a valuable piece off the bench while allowing 2016 first-rounder Thon Maker more time to develop.
The 30-year-old appeared in 79 games for the Suns this past season and averaged a career-high 12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 21.3 minutes per contest. Teletovic connected on 42.7% of his field goal attempts overall, while knocking down 39.3% of his three-pointers, which was a career-best.
And-Ones: Parsons, Humphries, Bass, Howard
Unrestricted free agent Kris Humphries, who split time last season between the Wizards, Suns and Hawks, is one of the players the Celtics are considering making a run at this offseason, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com relays (on Twitter). The Hawks, Nets, Wolves, Spurs and Hornets are also interested in the big man, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.
With free agency now underway, here’s the latest happening from around the league:
- The Trail Blazers intend to make a strong push to ink both Chandler Parsons and Dwight Howard this offseason, Jason Quick of CSNNW.com tweets. Parsons and Howard were former teammates with the Rockets and have remained friends, the scribe notes.
- The Hawks made a strong impression on Howard during their meeting with him today, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical tweets. The scribe adds that the possibility of D12 joining Atlanta is gaining traction.
- The Warriors are looking to bolster their bench and have expressed interest in unrestricted free agent Andrew Nicholson, who spent the past four seasons with the Magic, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (Twitter link).
- Former Wyoming head coach Larry Shyatt is joining Rick Carlisle‘s staff with the Mavericks, Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com tweets.
- Former Nets forward Sergey Karasev signed a three-year deal with the Russian club BC Zenit Saint Petersburg, the team announced (translation by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando). The 22-year-old made 40 appearances for Brooklyn this season and averaged 2.4 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.0 per contest while shooting .405/.297/.929 from the field.
- Former Wizards forward Chris Singleton has signed with the Greek club Panathinaikos, international journalist David Pick relays (via Twitter). Singleton last appeared in the NBA during the 2013/14 season.
- The Wolves have reached out to free agent power forward Brandon Bass to gauge interest, Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN tweets.
- With the Pacers reportedly reaching an agreement with Al Jefferson, unrestricted free agent big man Ian Mahinmi won’t be returning to the team next season, Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star relays (via Twitter).
- The Mavericks have no immediate plans to target Bismack Biyombo or Howard after missing out on Hassan Whiteside, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays (ESPN Now link).
O.J. Mayo Dismissed From NBA
The NBA has dismissed and disqualified O.J. Mayo from the league for violating the terms of its anti-drug program, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated reports (via Twitter). The shooting guard will be eligible to apply for reinstatement in two years, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. It’s unclear exactly what drugs Mayo allegedly had in his system to prompt such a response from the league, though early indications are that it was a “drug of abuse,” and not PEDs or marijuana.
The timing could not have been worse for Mayo, who is an unrestricted free agent, given the magnitude of the contracts reportedly agreed upon thus far. But financial concerns aside, one hopes that this will act as a wake-up call for the player and he will be able to get his life and career back on track. It’s unclear if the NBPA with file an appeal on his behalf at this time. The guard previously tested positive back in 2011 for dehydroepiandrosterone, an over-the-counter steroid precursor, Ken Berger of CBSSports notes (on Twitter).
Mayo, 28, appeared in 41 games for Milwaukee this season and averaged 7.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 26.6 minutes per outing. His shooting line was .371/.321/.775.
Interest High In Solomon Hill
Several teams have contacted Pacers free agent small forward Solomon Hill, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. The Jazz, Grizzlies and Bulls are all interested, with Utah needing a replacement in case Gordon Hayward leaves in free agency next summer.
The Mavericks are also expected to aggressively pursue Hill (Twitter link). Dallas small forward Chandler Parsons seems likely to sign elsewhere, and the Mavericks’ top target to replace him, Nicolas Batum, re-signed with the Hornets this morning.
The 6’7″ Hill is a three-year veteran out of Arizona who has spent his entire career in Indiana. He averaged just 4.2 points and 2.8 rebounds, with a .324 3PT%, in 59 games this season, but increased those averages to 7.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and a .579 3PT% in the playoffs, when he was relied on more heavily.
Community Shootaround: Dallas Mavericks
At least Hassan Whiteside made it quick this year. Unlike last summer when the Mavericks thought they were getting DeAndre Jordan for an entire week before he changed his mind and stayed with the Clippers, Whiteside gave Dallas a speedy, if harsh, decision.
Only a matter of hours passed between the time The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski declared Dallas to be the frontrunner to sign Whiteside and the Miami center’s announcement on social media this morning. The Heat kept the league’s top shot blocker, although it cost them a maximum contract that they reportedly preferred not to give, and Dallas was left disappointed again.
But that wasn’t the only gut punch for the Mavericks in the early hours of free agency. Small forward Nicolas Batum, another player the Mavericks thought they had a good shot to land, agreed to re-sign with the Hornets for $120MM over five years.
Dallas is still scheduled to meet today with Memphis point guard Mike Conley, but a new rumor suggests that he has talked to Mavericks small forward Chandler Parsons about teaming up with the Grizzlies. The Mavericks are reportedly unwilling to meet Parsons’ demand for a maximum deal and he already has a max offer from the Blazers, so there appears to be little chance that he re-signs in Dallas.
That brings us to our question for today: With Parsons seemingly gone and the Mavericks’ top choices at center and small forward already off the board, what should Mark Cuban’s next step be? Should he offer Conley a max deal? Should he chase another big name big man like Dwight Howard or Al Horford? Or should he avoid max players and try to rebuild with a collection of under-the-radar free agents? Cuban wants to give Dirk Nowitzki a chance at another ring before he retires, but the Mavericks will have to act quickly after a disastrous start to this offseason.
Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.
Magic Sign D.J. Augustin
JULY 7, 12:27pm: The Magic continue to finalize their agreements from the moratorium, announcing today (via Twitter) that Augustin has officially signed his new contract.
JULY 1, 10:30am: Augustin’s pact will be for four years and worth $29MM, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
3:45am: The Magic have reached an agreement on contract terms with point guard D.J. Augustin, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link). Financial terms of the deal aren’t yet known.
Augustin, 28, split his time between Oklahoma City and Denver last season, after a deadline deal sent him from the Thunder to the Nuggets. In total, he appeared in 62 games, averaging 7.5 points and 3.2 assists in a part-time role. He was also his usual dependable self from three-point range, shooting 40.5% from downtown.
C.J. Watson was Orlando’s veteran backup at the point guard spot down the stretch last season, but with Brandon Jennings expected to depart in free agency, it makes sense for the Magic to add some more depth at the position to help complement Elfrid Payton.
Free Agent Notes: Parsons, Conley, Lin, Smith
Free agents Mike Conley and Chandler Parsons have talked several times about teaming up in Memphis, posts Tim MacMahon on ESPN Now. Parsons, who already has a maximum offer on the table from the Blazers, will meet with Grizzlies officials later today in Los Angeles. Conley has a meeting scheduled with the Mavericks, but MacMahon says Conley and Parsons haven’t talked about becoming teammates in Dallas.
There’s more news on the first day of free agency:
- The Pelicans could have signed point guard Jeremy Lin, but weren’t willing to give him more than $10MM per season, tweets Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com. Lin agreed to a deal with the Nets this morning for $36MM over three years.
- Ish Smith, who agreed to terms with the Pistons early this morning, felt slighted that the Sixers waited so long to call him, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team didn’t reach out to Smith until 3:30 a.m., and by that time he had decided to go to Detroit.
- With more than $60MM to spend, the Sixers are targeting guards as free agency begins, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. He names the Thunder’s Dion Waiters, the Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford and the Blazers‘ Allen Crabbe as players that Philadelphia has interest in.
- The Suns have guaranteed P.J. Tucker‘s salary for next season, writes Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic. The 31-year-old small forward will receive $5.3MM in 2016/17. He only had a partial guarantee of $1.5MM before Thursday.
- The Wolves have contacted Bulls free agent guard E’Twaun Moore, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis. Moore averaged 7.5 points and 1.7 assists in 59 games this season.
- Several teams are expected to pursue Blazers restricted free agent Maurice Harkless, posts Marc Spears on ESPN Now. A source tells Spears that the Wizards, Pistons, Lakers, Mavericks and Jazz are all interested.
Following Specific Players On Hoops Rumors
Hoops Rumors lets you keep up with your favorite teams as they plot their moves, and we also provide ways to easily follow the latest on all of your favorite players and trade candidates. You can get news about players wherever you go with our Trade Rumors app, available for iOS and Android devices. The app is free and allows you to add a feed for any player and set up notifications that will alert you whenever we write about him.
Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page. You can find any player by using our search box (located in the right sidebar); by clicking his tag at the bottom of a post in which he’s discussed; or, by simply typing his name in your address bar after hoopsrumors.com, substituting dashes for spaces. For example, Kevin Durant’s page is hoopsrumors.com/kevin-durant.
You can also set up an RSS feed for any of our player pages by adding /feed to the end of the page URL, like this: hoopsrumors.com/bismack-biyombo/feed. Entering that URL into the reader of your choice should enable you to get updates whenever we write about Bismack Biyombo. It works for teams, too. If you’re a Raptors fan, you can enter hoopsrumors.com/toronto-raptors/feed into your reader and stay on top of all the latest from Toronto.
In addition to players and teams, there are a number of other subjects you can track by clicking on the tags that we use at the bottom of posts. You can keep tabs on news related to the draft right here. Items about the salary cap can be found on this page. You can simply scan our top stories here. Again, you can set up a feed with any of these pages by adding /feed to the end of the URL.
Pistons Sign Ish Smith To Three-Year Deal
JULY 8, 1:30pm: The Pistons have officially locked up Smith, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 1, 7:39am: Smith’s pact is for three years and $18MM, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer relays (via Twitter).
2:44am: The Pistons have reached an agreement on a three-year contract with free agent point guard Ish Smith, reports David Mayo of MLive.com (via Twitter). The financial terms of the deal, which can’t be finalized until next Thursday, aren’t yet known.
Smith, who turns 28 on Tuesday, has led a nomadic existence during his six NBA seasons so far, having played for multiple teams in five of his six seasons. In 2015/16, the Wake Forest alum played in 77 total games, including 50 (all starts) for the Sixers. During his time with Philadelphia last season, Smith averaged 14.7 points and 7.0 assists per contest, easily besting his career averages.
On Thursday, we heard that the 76ers had interest in retaining Smith, but in a backup role. Instead of returning to Philadelphia, however, it appears Smith will be headed to Detroit, where he’ll likely play behind Reggie Jackson at the point.
The Pistons’ backup point guard from this past season, Steve Blake, is eligible for unrestricted free agency, and the team’s agreement with Smith is a strong signal that Blake won’t be back.