Knicks Contact Phoenix About Eric Bledsoe
The Knicks believe they can trade for a veteran point guard and have contacted the Suns about Eric Bledsoe, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.
Jeff Hornacek is well acquainted with Bledsoe after coaching him in Phoenix, Berman notes, but outside of Courtney Lee and possibly a first-round pick, the Knicks don’t have many assets to offer. Bledsoe, 27, still has two years and $29.5MM left on his current contract. He averaged 21.1 points and 6.3 assists last season, but was shut down in mid-March after playing in 66 games.
Bledsoe has reportedly been on the trade market, with the Suns talking to the Nuggets and Bulls about possible deals prior to the draft.
The Knicks are among a “multitude” of teams that have reached out to Ramon Sessions, Berman adds. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Hornets, who declined their option on him last month. New York only has $1.5MM in cap space remaining, but can go up to $2.3MM under the veterans minimum exception, which applies to players with at least 10 seasons of experience.
Another possibility Berman lists is Donald Sloan, who spent last season in China after playing for the Nets in 2015/16. In 61 games with Brooklyn that year, Sloan averaged 7.0 points and 4.4 assists per night.
Hornets Targeting Jordan Hill
The Hornets could be the next team for journeyman center Jordan Hill, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
Hill, who has played for five franchises in his eight-year career, was waived by the Timberwolves in late June before his 2017/18 contract became guaranteed. A free agent addition last summer, Hill played in just seven games for Minnesota.
Charlotte is a little more than $2MM below the luxury-tax line with 14 players under contract. A source told The Sporting News the team would like to add one more low-cost, veteran big man to its roster. Deveney lists Ersan Ilyasova, Terrence Jones and Willie Reed as other possibilities.
Hill played for Hornets coach Steve Clifford in 2012/13 when Clifford was an assistant with the Lakers. The eighth pick of the 2009 draft by the Knicks, Hill has also spent time with the Rockets and Pacers. If he does sign with Charlotte, Hill will serve as a backup to Dwight Howard, who was acquired from the Hawks in a trade last month.
Kyle Korver Re-Signs With Cavaliers
JULY 12, 8:28pm: The signing is official, the Cavaliers announced on their website.
JULY 2, 3:09pm: Kyle Korver has agreed to a new three-year, $22MM contract with the Cavaliers, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical. The final season is only partially guaranteed, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The 36-year-old came to Cleveland in a January deal and provided a needed outside threat. He averaged 10.7 points in 35 games and shot .485 from 3-point range.
The Cavs acquired Korver’s Bird rights when they brought him over from Atlanta, which is fortunate because they don’t have any available cap room to use to re-sign him. The 14-year veteran will get a nice raise from the little more than $5.2MM he made this season.
Several other teams expressed an interest in Korver, including the Pelicans and Bucks, but he decided to remain with the Eastern Conference champions and take another shot at a ring.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Warriors, Omri Casspi Agree To Deal
6:44pm: It’ll be a one-year, minimum salary contract for Casspi, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Casspi’s minimum will be worth about $2.1MM, though it’ll only count against the Warriors’ cap for approximately $1.47MM.
Minimum salary deals can be finalized during the July moratorium, so Golden State doesn’t have to wait until Thursday to make the signing official.
6:23pm: The Warriors have lined up a deal to add another shooter to their roster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that free agent forward Omri Casspi has agreed to sign a one-year deal with the team. Sam Amick of USA Today first reported (via Twitter) that Golden State was in talks with Casspi.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
Casspi, 29, opened the 2016/17 season with the Kings, but quickly saw his role in Sacramento’s rotation reduced by new head coach Dave Joerger. Casspi was included in the trade that sent DeMarcus Cousins to New Orleans, and while the Pelicans were excited to get him as part of that deal, his stint with the team was short-lived, as he suffered a broken thumb in his first game as a Pelican. Casspi was subsequently waived by New Orleans and later finished the season with the Timberwolves after getting healthy.
Although the 2016/17 season didn’t really give him a chance to show off his talents, Casspi enjoyed the best season of his career in 2015/16 with the Kings, averaging 11.8 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 69 games (21 starts), making a career-high 40.9% of his three-pointers. If he can regain that form, he should have a very nice year with a Warriors team that will get him plenty of open looks.
Financial terms of the deal aren’t yet known, but the Warriors could only offer a minimum salary contract unless they’re willing to dip into their $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception for Casspi. A minimum deal seems likely.
Pelicans May Help Facilitate Carmelo Anthony Trade
Earlier today, we told you the Rockets and Knicks were looking for a fourth team to help finalize a trade involving Carmelo Anthony. The Pelicans have expressed interest in becoming that fourth team, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post.
It’s not clear whether New Orleans would take on the three years and more than $61MM left on Ryan Anderson‘s contract or if he would go to another team. Anderson spent four years with the Pelicans franchise before signing with Houston last summer. The Rockets need to move his salary to make room for Anthony, while the Knicks have no need for Anderson because he plays the same position as Kristaps Porzingis and he goes against their new philosophy of avoiding older players on long-term deals.
Representatives for Anthony would like to see the deal get done this week, Berman adds. Houston has scheduled a press conference for Friday to officially welcome Chris Paul, but Berman sees little chance that the trade will be complete in time for Anthony to make a surprise appearance. Multiple sources tell Berman that no deal will happen until “well after” Friday. He states that the sides are getting closer to an agreement and are still “motivated,” but much work still remains. A proposed three-team trade reportedly “stalled” over the weekend, forcing the Rockets and Knicks to start the process over.
Sources tell Berman that Knicks acting president Steve Mills is so focused on the Anthony negotiations that it has prevented the team from finding a veteran point guard. There is speculation that New York may try to fill the position through the Anthony deal.
Houston’s first attempts to acquire Anthony were unsuccessful, Berman adds, because the Knicks were restructuring their front office after former president Phil Jackson was fired. However, owner James Dolan has now signed off on moving Anthony and plans to make Mills the new team president.
Insiders tell Berman that Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni initially wasn’t on board with acquiring Anthony because of their past differences in New York. However, with Paul, James Harden and Nene all pushing for the move, D’Antoni has been left with no choice.
Jazz Target Free Agents, Hope To Trade Boris Diaw
After signing Thabo Sefolosha earlier today, the Jazz are looking at more moves to beef up their front line, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune.
Utah would like to add another forward and a center to back up Rudy Gobert, Jones relays. The Jazz are trying to trade veteran big man Boris Diaw, whose $7.5MM salary for the upcoming season doesn’t become fully guaranteed until Saturday. If they can’t find a trade partner, they are expected to waive Diaw before the end of the week.
Jones mentions three free agents that Utah is targeting: small forward Dante Cunningham, who spent last season with the Pelicans, power forward Ersan Ilyasova, who was traded from the Sixers to the Hawks at the February deadline, and center Willie Reed, who is coming off a breakthrough season as a backup with the Heat.
Jazz management is especially fond of Cunningham and Reed because they bring toughness and atleticism on defense. Cunningham is also coming off a career-best year from 3-point range, connecting on 39% from long distance.
Sefolosha, who also has a strong reputation as a defender, chose the Jazz because they utilize an international style of offense similar to what he experienced in Atlanta, Jones writes. He started 42 games for Atlanta last season, but Utah may view him as a backup to Joe Ingles.
The Jazz have two options for signing Sefolosha, who will receive $10.5MM over two years, according to a post from Bobby Marks on ESPN Now. They could remain over the cap and use part of their mid-level exception, which would allow them to keep a $3.3MM bi-annual exception and $3.2MM of the MLE. The other option is to waive Diaw and sign Sefolosha with cap room, leaving them with $6MM to spend, along with a $4.3MM room MLE.
Jodie Meeks Signs Two-Year Deal With Wizards
July 12, 4:10pm: The signing is official, according to NBA.com.
JULY 2, 11:38am: The Wizards have added some more outside shooting to their roster, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (via Twitter). League sources tell Charania that Washington has reached an agreement with veteran free agent Jodie Meeks, who will sign a two-year, $7MM contract.
Meeks has seen his last two seasons derailed by injuries, having appeared in just 39 total games for the Pistons and Magic since the start of the 2015/16 campaign. However, he was an effective outside threat for Orlando when he suited up last year, averaging 9.1 PPG on 40.9% three-point shooting.
According to Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post (Twitter link), the Wizards will sign Meeks using their bi-annual exception. The BAE can be used for deals worth up to $6,744,500 over two years, so that makes sense. However, using that exception would limit the Wizards to a hard cap of $125.266MM for the 2017/18 league year.
Washington has about $94MM in guaranteed salaries on its books prior to adding Meeks or re-signing Otto Porter, so if the team intends to match a max offer for Porter, that hard cap could become a problem. If the Wizards instead opt to use a portion of their taxpayer mid-level exception to complete the Meeks signing, the team wouldn’t be subject to a hard cap.
The addition of Meeks probably doesn’t bode well for Bojan Bogdanovic‘s return to the Wizards. Meeks figures to fill a similar role in Washington, and Bogdanovic will likely be able to land a better offer from another club, with the Wizards focusing on Porter.
Since the offseason began, the Wizards have now traded for Tim Frazier and committed to sign Meeks in an effort to bolster one of the NBA’s lowest-scoring benches.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Warriors Re-Sign Andre Iguodala
July 12, 4:07pm: The signing is official, according to NBA.com.
July 1, 10:56pm: Andre Iguodala has decided to return to the Warriors on a three-year, $48MM deal, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical. Iguodala himself confirmed the agreement (on Twitter) around the same time Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN first reported that a deal was in place (Twitter link). The contract is fully guaranteed with no options on either side, per Charania (Twitter link).
Iguodala committed to Golden State after meeting with GM Bob Myers and coach Steve Kerr tonight in Los Angeles, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Iguodala also received multi-year offers from the Rockets, Spurs and Kings, putting pressure on the Warriors to increase their own offer, which was believed to originally be in the range of $12-14MM per year, with a partial guarantee in year three (Twitter link via Sam Amick of USA Today).
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Free Agent Tracker]
With new deals in place for Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, along with a super-max extension for Stephen Curry and a huge contract coming for Kevin Durant, Myers has ensured that the core of the Warriors’ championship team will remain together. However, it certainly won’t be cheap.
Once the Warriors come to terms with Durant on a new deal that will give him a 20% raise using his Non-Bird rights, they will have an estimated $130MM in guaranteed money on their books, as Bobby Marks of ESPN details. Even if Golden State fills out the rest of its roster with minimum salary players, team salary would exceed $137MM, putting the club way over the $119MM luxury tax line and creating a tax bill in the neighborhood of $40MM.
By exceeding the tax apron, the Warriors will lose their full mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception, but will have access to the taxpayer MLE worth $5.192MM. Of course, given how many commitments the Dubs already have on their books, any player(s) signed using that exception would be exponentially more expensive due to tax penalties.
The Warriors’ future cap situation will also get a lot more interesting due to Iguodala’s new deal, which includes a guaranteed third year. That means Iggy’s contract will run through the 2019/20 season, which is the same year Klay Thompson‘s new deal will begin. If Golden State intends to retain Thompson, the team’s bill on salaries and taxes that year will be massive.
While Warriors ownership will have to worry about those future tax penalties, fans in the Bay Area can rest assured that all the key pieces of last year’s championship team, including veteran big man David West, will be back.
Outside of former MVPs Curry and Durant, Iguodala was viewed as the Warriors’ most crucial free agent. The 33-year-old finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting this year, and while his scoring numbers were very modest, he played a huge role for Golden State as a three-and-D wing. Iguodala ranked 11th on our list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
With Iguodala off the board, it will be interesting to see where teams like the Rockets turn. Houston was reportedly having serious talks with the Cavs about Iman Shumpert, so he may be the Rockets’ Plan B.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Western FA Rumors: Lakers, Canaan, Wolves, Kings
After committing all of their remaining cap room, the Lakers continue to debate how to address their point guard spot, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The team has explored possible free agent targets who could be veteran mentors for Lonzo Ball, but with just the $4.3MM room exception remaining, L.A. may no longer have the flexibility to sign some of those players.
Per Shelburne (Twitter link), the Lakers still have Rajon Rondo on their radar, but are debating signing a younger player such as Ian Clark, Tyler Ennis, or Isaiah Canaan for that backup point guard job. It’s not clear whether Rondo and/or Clark would be willing to sign a one-year deal worth the room exception — their respective markets were believed to be more robust, but it’s possible that has changed as free agency nears the two-week mark.
Here are a few more free agency notes from around the Western Conference:
- Speaking of Isaiah Canaan, his camp has “touched base” with the Timberwolves, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson are believed to have put in a good word for their former Chicago teammate.
- The Kings reportedly made a maximum salary offer to Otto Porter earlier in free agency, but J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com hears from multiple sources that there was confusion about whether Sacramento put such an offer sheet on the table. “We just talked,” Kings GM Vlade Divac said of Porter. This may just be an issue of semantics — perhaps the Kings expressed a willingness to go up to the max, but didn’t draw up a formal offer sheet. Porter eventually got his max offer sheet from Brooklyn anyway.
- The Warriors made quick work of 2017 free agency, retaining virtually all their key players and adding a couple interesting new pieces. However, they’ll face a tricky situation next summer when Patrick McCaw becomes eligible for restricted free agency. Anthony Slater of The Bay Area News Group examines the challenge of McCaw’s looming free agency and speaks to the 21-year-old guard about it.
Knicks, Rockets Explore Four-Team Carmelo Scenarios
3:23pm: An Anthony trade involving the Knicks and Rockets is “at the two-yard line,” a source tells Stefan Bondy and Frank Isola of The New York Daily News. It’s not clear exactly how close the teams are – presumably not as close as if talks were “at the one-yard line” – but as ESPN’s report below indicates, both the Knicks and Rockets are motivated to complete a deal if they can find a scenario that appeases all involved parties.
10:17am: The Knicks and Rockets have explored Carmelo Anthony trade scenarios that would include up to two other teams in a possible four-team deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). However, while New York and Houston are both motivated to get something done, no agreement is imminent, according to Wojnarowski.
Since the Rockets’ acquisition of Chris Paul two weeks ago, Houston has been frequently cited as a potential landing spot for Anthony, with the Cavaliers viewed as the other viable suitor for the veteran forward. The Rockets appear to be more aggressively pursuing a deal at this point, but a match between Houston and New York is tricky.
For the Rockets to move enough salary to accommodate Anthony’s oversized contract, the team would almost certainly have to part with Ryan Anderson, who will earn more than $19.5MM this season. Anderson’s contract has three years left on it though, with cap hits of $20MM+ in 2018/19 and $21MM+ in ’19/20, and the Knicks have no interest in taking on that sort of long-term money for a veteran.
For a Rockets trade for Anthony to work, at least one other team would likely have to get involved to take on Anderson’s contract. That club accommodating the salary dump would require at least an asset or two for its troubles, and Houston has already traded its 2018 first-round pick, so it will be tricky to find a deal that makes three teams happy. A four-team deal, which would likely involve more players and picks, would be even more challenging. As such, we shouldn’t necessarily expect quick resolution.
Earlier this week, we identified the teams with cap room remaining — I’d expect the Rockets and Knicks are trying to engage several teams on that list. However, the Lakers have since committed their space to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, while the Hawks have cut into their room with a deal for Dewayne Dedmon.
If the Rockets can reach a trade agreement for Anthony, the longtime Knick is expected to waive his no-trade clause – and perhaps part of his trade kicker – to make the deal work.