Lakers Meet With George Hill, Discuss Deal
2:49pm: In the full ESPN report on Hill and the Lakers, Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne classify the talks between the two sides as “serious,” suggesting there’s real mutual interest. According to Shelburne (via Twitter), the Lakers envision Hill and Ball playing alongside one another in the starting lineup.
12:26pm: Free agent point guard George Hill and his representatives are in Los Angeles today to meet with the Lakers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). Wojnarowski reports that the Lakers and Hill are discussing a possible one-year contract.
Although injuries limited Hill to 49 games in 2016/17, he was excellent when he played, comfortably establishing a new career high in PPG (16.9) despite averaging fewer minutes per game than he had with the Pacers. Hill played solid defense for the Jazz and shot over 40% from downtown for a second straight season. His ability to play off the ball in addition to running the point would make him a valuable backcourt piece for virtually any team.
However, Hill has seen his market shrink in recent days, with many of his potential suitors unable to offer a lucrative deal. The Nuggets and Knicks are said to have interest, but don’t have the necessary cap room to make a market-value offer without moving other contracts. The Jazz wanted to bring Hill back, but addressed their point guard spot by trading for Ricky Rubio, significantly reducing the odds of a reunion with last year’s starter. The Spurs were also linked to Hill, but reportedly broke off talks after striking a deal with Patty Mills.
Taking a one-year deal with the Lakers to act as a short-term starter and a mentor for Lonzo Ball might make some sense for Hill, since it would give him an opportunity to show he can stay healthy for a full season. But at age 31, there’s no guarantee that he could parlay a strong 2017/18 campaign into a huge payday a year from now.
L.A. doesn’t have a huge excess of cap room available either — taking into account cap holds for their three first-round picks, the Lakers have nearly $82MM in guaranteed salary on their books for 2017/18, which leaves approximately $17MM in cap space. The team is interested in one-year deals this offseason, in order to maintain cap room for the summer of 2018.
It’s worth noting 2017/18 will be Hill’s 10th NBA season, which would make him eligible for a higher starting salary next summer (up to 35% of the cap instead of 30%). However, based on his seemingly cooling market, an offer in that range appears unlikely anyway.
Free Agency Rumors: Reed, Hayward, Jazz, Hawks
Veteran big man Willie Reed, who spent the 2016/17 season with the Heat, is flying somewhat under the radar in free agency, but he has no shortage of suitors. Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype, having already reported that Reed was drawing interest from Miami, Philadelphia, Indiana, and Houston, has added the Hawks to the list of the teams interested in the unrestricted free agent. For his part, Reed says he want to prove he’s “worth every penny” he gets, no matter where he lands.
“I feel like I’ve gotten better every single year and my goal for next season is to win the Most Improved Player Award,” Reed said. “I have really high expectations for myself next year. With more minutes, I think I can be the Most Improved Player in the NBA. I want to be an elite shot-blocker and make a big impact. I think it’s just a matter of getting more minutes and experience.”
Here’s more on free agency from around the league:
- Although reports last week suggested that Gordon Hayward wanted the Jazz to re-sign George Hill, Hayward also told the team he’d love to play with Ricky Rubio, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Utah is sitting down with Hayward today, and Rubio is part of the team’s contingent in that meeting, according to Shelburne, who says Rudy Gobert and Joe Ingles are also in attendance.
- If the Jazz are able to bring back Hayward, they won’t be done trying to upgrade their roster, tweets Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune. Utah would, at the very least, still have some form of the mid-level exception available in that scenario.
- Many teams around the NBA appearing to be waiting for resolution on the Hayward situation before moving forward on lower-tier free agents, and the Hawks are among that group, says Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
- The Timberwolves pursued Paul Millsap before he committed to Denver, and there was “lots of communication” between Millsap and the Wolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. However, according to Wolfson, the two sides never really came close due to Minnesota’ lack of cap room.
Pacers Sign T.J. Leaf To Rookie Contract
The Pacers have signed forward T.J. Leaf to this rookie contract, according to the NBA’s official transactions log. The team hasn’t officially announced the signing, but it appears Leaf made things official on Saturday before making his Summer League debut on Sunday.
Leaf, the 18th overall pick in last month’s draft, will be joining the Pacers as the club retools its roster, perhaps entering a full-fledged rebuilding phrase. He should have an opportunity to earn some frontcourt minutes in his rookie year for Indiana, alongside promising young bigs like Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis.
An early entrant in this year’s draft, Leaf is coming off an impressive freshman campaign at UCLA in which he averaged 16.3 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 1.1 BPG. He was also incredibly efficient from the floor, shooting 61.7% on field goal attempts, including 46.6% on threes.
Leaf’s rookie deal figures to be worth just over $2MM in year one, with a four-year total of more than $11.5MM, as our breakdown of this year’s rookie scale shows.
Suns Waive Leandro Barbosa
The Suns are waiving veteran guard Leandro Barbosa, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). The timing of the move doesn’t come as a surprise — Barbosa’s salary for 2017/18 would have become fully guaranteed if he remained under contract beyond today.
Barbosa, 34, joined the Suns on a two-year contract last summer, but the second year was only partially guaranteed for $500K. By cutting Barbosa, Phoenix will save $3.5MM on his $4MM total salary.
The Brazilian guard played a part-time role for the Suns last season, rejoining the franchise with which he started his career. In 67 games (14.4 MPG), Barbosa averaged 6.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG, and 1.2 APG, with a shooting line of .439/.357/.889.
Phoenix entered the offseason with aspirations of landing an impact player like Blake Griffin or Paul Millsap. However, after seeing several Western Conference teams – including the Rockets, Thunder, Timberwolves, and Nuggets – make impact moves to load up their rosters, the Suns opted to stay out of the fray. They’ll focus instead on developing their young players and plan to use their cap room to accommodate other teams’ salary dumps, acquiring draft picks or young players in the process.
Knicks Sign Luke Kornet To Two-Way Contract
The Knicks have formally signed undrafted free agent big man Luke Kornet to a two-way contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). Teams are permitted to finalize two-way contracts during the July moratorium, so the deal is official.
A 7’0″ center who played his college ball at Vanderbilt, Kornet was ranked 69th on DraftExpress’ list of 2017’s top 100 prospects. In his senior year in 2016/17, he averaged 13.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 2.0 BPG, chipping in 1.5 threes per game, though he made just 32.7% of his shots from outside.
Two-way contracts are a new addition to the NBA this year, a result of negotiations on the league’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In addition to carrying 15 players on their regular season roster, teams will be allowed to have two more players on two-way deals — those players will spend most of their time in the G League, but can be called up to the NBA roster and can’t be poached by rival NBA teams. Our full FAQ on two-way contracts can be found here.
While Kornet may not seen much action with the Knicks this season, it appears he’ll go down as the first player in NBA history to officially sign a two-way contract. The agreement was first reported last month by ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
Chauncey Billups Withdraws From Consideration For Cavs’ Job
11:53am: Billups met with Gilbert at least twice to discuss the Cavs’ position, but didn’t confer at all with LeBron James or LeBron’s agent Rich Paul, writes Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. According to Vardon, Cleveland’s offer was believed to be in the range of $2-3MM annually, and Billups was seeking more.
11:24am: In his full report on Billups’ decision, Wojnarowski passes along a statement from his ESPN colleague.
“I have great respect for [owner] Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I greatly appreciate the discussions we had regarding their organization,” Billups said. “As I have conveyed before, ultimately I would like to lead a team’s basketball operation and be a part of a successful franchise. But presently, the timing just isn’t right to delve into that role in Cleveland. In the meantime, I will continue to focus on broadcasting and my other business endeavors.”
10:52am: Chauncey Billups, who was reportedly offered the top position in the Cavaliers’ front office, has withdrawn from consideration, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter).
Cleveland extended an offer to Billups prior to last month’s draft in the hopes of making him the team’s new president of basketball operations, but the process has dragged since that point. The two sides reportedly went back and forth, with the former All-Star guard making a counter-offer to the club. But ultimately, it appears the Cavs and Billups couldn’t agree on an arrangement that would work for both sides.
Reports had indicated that Billups had some apprehensions about the job, since he likes his current role as an NBA analyst and didn’t necessarily want to uproot his family. He was also believed to have concerns about the fact that LeBron James could leave next summer, as well as the prospect of having to be objectively critical about head coach Tyronn Lue, who is a close friend.
ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reports (via Twitter) that concerns about staffing and money may also have been sticking points for Billups, who has received a raise from ESPN, per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter links).
With Billups out of the mix, it’s not clear who the next man up on the Cavs’ wish list might be. In the wake of David Griffin‘s departure from the franchise last month, Cleveland quickly zeroed in on Billups, so no other candidates have really been linked to the job.
Since Griffin’s exit, assistant general manager Koby Altman has essentially been serving as the de facto GM for Cleveland, making him a potential candidate for the full-time job. The team has reached tentative deals with Kyle Korver and Jose Calderon since free agency opened on Saturday.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Free Agency Notes: Freeland, Bogdanovic, Millsap
Former Trail Blazers big man Joel Freeland has engaged in talks with NBA teams and could make a comeback after spending the last two seasons playing international ball, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Freeland, 30, was a first-round pick way back in 2006 and joined the Blazers six years later for the 2012/13 season. However, his stint with the team lasted just three years — he appeared in 151 regular season games for Portland before heading back overseas and playing for CSKA Moscow for the last two seasons. He’s now a free agent.
Here’s more on free agency from around the NBA:
- A league source tells Chris Miller of CSN (Twitter link) that Wizards RFA Bojan Bogdanovic is believed to be seeking a three- or four-year deal worth $16MM annually. That sort of money may have been available for a player like Bogdanovic in free agency a year ago when nearly every team had cap room, but I really don’t see him getting an offer in that range this time around.
- Paul Millsap tells Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link) that the Hawks never formally offered him a contract. New Atlanta GM Travis Schlenk never sounded overly enthusiastic about making a competitive offer for Millsap, who committed to the Nuggets on Sunday night.
- The Warriors still have their $5.192MM mid-level exception available, but Tim Kawakami of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link) is skeptical that the team will use it to sign a single player, suggesting the Dubs are more likely to split it up among multiple players — if they use it at all.
- If the Bulls are serious about going all-in on their rebuild, it might make sense to let RFA forward Nikola Mirotic walk in an effort to downgrade next year’s roster and improve the team’s chances at a top-five pick, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Free Agent Rumors: Hayward, Knicks, Rose
While there have been indications that Gordon Hayward will make a decision on his new team Tuesday or Wednesday, a source close to the player tells Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald that Hayward may actually inform teams of his decision as early as tonight. Hayward met with the Heat on Saturday and the Celtics on Sunday, so all that’s left on his schedule is a Monday sit-down with the Jazz. While there was speculation earlier in the process that another team might enter the picture for Hayward, it appears he’ll decide between his three long-reported suitors.
Here’s more on free agency from around the NBA:
- A source tells Marc Berman of The New York Post that the Knicks have told some agents their free agent plans are being held up to some extent, as they weigh their decision on whether to trade Carmelo Anthony. A report late on Monday night indicated Anthony is open to waiving his no-trade clause to join the Cavaliers or Rockets.
- The Knicks have considered the possibility of seeking a sign-and-trade deal involving Derrick Rose in order to get something back for him, tweets Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Sign-and-trades are pretty rare, but can make sense when a player wants to join an over-the cap team — the Bucks, with whom Rose is meeting today, currently fit that bill.
- The Nuggets‘ pitch to Paul Millsap included an appearance from Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, according to Nick Kosmider of The Denver Post, who says Marshall praised the city and told Millsap what it’s like to win in Denver. While it’s not clear if Marshall’s argument was a deciding factor, Millsap did commit to the Nuggets on Sunday night.
- The Timberwolves‘ approach to free agency this summer has shown that the organization is transforming into a Tom Thibodeau-style team, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com explains. Having agreed to sign Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson, the Wolves still have their room exception available as they scour the market for shooting help.
Bucks Meeting With Derrick Rose
Free agent point guard Derrick Rose is meeting today with Bucks team officials, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). It’s the first we’ve heard of Milwaukee’s interest in Rose since the free agent period opened.
The Bucks have a young, talented roster led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, but could use some help at the point guard spot, making them a logical suitor for a veteran like Rose. Matthew Dellavedova was the club’s primary point guard last season, with Malcolm Brogdon and Jason Terry also seeing some action at the position.
Milwaukee’s current cap position may not be conducive to a pursuit of Rose. The team is over the cap, which would leave just the $8.4MM mid-level exception to offer the former MVP. However, Wojnarowski suggests (via Twitter) that Milwaukee has been making an effort to shed salary in order to make room for a more competitive offer for Rose.
While Wojnarowski doesn’t identify any specific players the Bucks are trying to move, Greg Monroe ($17.88MM) is the club’s most obvious trade candidate. Some combination of John Henson ($11.42MM), Mirza Teletovic ($10.5MM), and Spencer Hawes ($6.02MM) might also make sense as potential chips. I wouldn’t expect any of those players to have a whole lot of trade value though.
Rose, 28, is coming off a season in which he averaged 18.0 PPG and 4.4 APG in 64 games for the Knicks. There’s reportedly some interest within the Knicks front office in bringing back the former No. 1 overall pick, though a source tells Frank Isola of The New York Daily News that GM Steve Mills is opposed to the idea, and Mills currently has the final say on basketball decisions.
Vince Carter To Meet With Kings
Free agent swingman Vince Carter is scheduled to take a meeting with the Kings on Monday, league sources tell Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Carter, an eight-time All-Star, will turn 41 in January, but has shown no desire to call it a career quite yet. The 19-year veteran actually took on a larger role in Memphis in 2016/17 than he had in the previous two seasons, averaging 24.6 MPG in 73 regular season contests. For the year, Carter averaged 8.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 1.8 APG, shooting 37.8% from three-point range.
Given how their Western Conference rivals have loaded up this offseason, the Kings probably shouldn’t expect to be in playoff contention in 2017/18. However, the team could use a veteran presence like Carter to stabilize what figures to be a very young roster, headed by the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Willie Cauley-Stein, Justin Jackson, and Georgios Papagiannis.
The Kings also have no shortage of cap room to make Carter a solid contract offer. Even if Otto Porter were to accept the team’s reported max offer and the Wizards decided not to match it, Sacramento would still have plenty of cap space available. Still, it remains to be seen how interested Carter will be in spending the twilight years of his career with a probable non-contender.