Hawks Waive Mike Dunleavy Jr.
4:10pm: The Hawks have formally waived Dunleavy Jr., Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.
12:56pm: Mike Dunleavy Jr. appears likely to hit the free agent market in the coming days, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). According to Vivlamore, indications are that the Hawks will waive Dunleavy before his 2017/18 salary becomes fully guaranteed.
Dunleavy is heading into the final year of his current contract, but his $5,175,000 salary is only partially guaranteed for $1,662,500, per Basketball Insiders. Atlanta would avoid being on the hook for the remaining $3.5MM+ by cutting Dunleavy before it becomes guaranteed on July 1.
Acquired by the Cavaliers in a trade last July, Dunleavy was subsequently flipped to the Hawks in a mid-season deal for Kyle Korver. In 30 games with Atlanta, the veteran swingman continued to show off his sharpshooting ability, making 42.9% of his three-point attempts, though his role with the club was limited.
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News reported earlier today that Dunleavy is on the Timberwolves’ radar as a possible free agent addition. When a Twitter follower pointed out that the 36-year-old is still under contract, Wolfson replied, “Let’s just say he’s available.”
Bulls Waive Rondo, Canaan
The Bulls have waived Rajon Rondo and Isaiah Canaan, Jeff Goodman of ESPN tweets. The news, at least as far as Rondo is concerned, comes as no surprise.
Earlier we wrote about how today was the deadline for the Bulls to part ways with the veteran guard, lest the organization hang on to him and be on the hook for an extra $10MM in guaranteed money.
As Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports writes, Rondo’s impressive last season surge did wonders for his value but an injury in the postseason, coupled with the Bulls’ change in direction post-Jimmy Butler, have spelled the end to his brief tenure in Chicago.
Per Mannix, Rondo may need to wait until much of the initial free agency period dust settles before he can lock down a deal with another ball club.
Pelicans Strong Favorites To Re-Sign Jrue Holiday
3:11pm: Holiday’s plan is to sleep on his decision tonight after meeting with the Pelicans, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, who tweets that if the point guard decides he wants to hear more pitches, he’ll line them up later.
TNT’s David Aldridge confirms (via Twitter) that Holiday expects to decide one way or another on New Orleans’ offer on Saturday, adding that there are three other teams in serious pursuit of the 27-year-old.
JUNE 30, 11:11am: There’s “growing optimism” that the Pelicans will re-sign Holiday, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter links) expresses a similar sentiment, reporting that other teams with interest in Holiday are starting to believe he’ll quickly re-sign with New Orleans on a new five-year deal.
Holiday’s bond with the Pelicans is strong after the way the organization supported him during a family crisis last fall, Stein notes.
JUNE 29, 1:29pm: Re-signing free agent point guard Jrue Holiday is the Pelicans’ top priority this weekend, and Holiday will meet with the team when the new league year opens on Saturday, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. If Holiday is unable to reach an agreement with New Orleans during that meeting, he plans on sitting down with other interested teams during the first 48 hours of free agency, Wojnarowski reports.
As Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details, the point guard market is crowded with other free agents (such as George Hill, Kyle Lowry, and Jeff Teague) and potential trade candidates (Ricky Rubio and Eric Bledsoe). Additionally, some of Holiday’s potential suitors are now out of the running or have likely seen their interest decline significantly due to a slew of recent moves around the NBA.
For instance, the Nets, Sixers, and Mavericks were viewed as possible suitors for Holiday, but have added D’Angelo Russell, Markelle Fultz, and Dennis Smith Jr., respectively, within the last week. The Bulls and Knicks were also viewed as teams with interest, but both teams are in rebuilding mode now and Holiday would only be interested in leaving New Orleans for a playoff team, sources tell Deveney. The potential drop-off in interest opens the door for the Pelicans to retain their starting point guard.
“They want to keep him,” one league executive tells Deveney. “They’re going to do all that they can to keep him. But the way things have played out, there is not as much pressure on them, once they roll out the red carpet for him.”
While Holiday’s market may not be as competitive as expected, the Pelicans will still have some competition. Deveney identifies the Nuggets as one threat, since Denver intends to be active in free agency and could use a long-term point guard. A source confirms to Deveney that Holiday will draw interest from the Nuggets.
If the Pelicans aren’t able to re-sign Holiday, it may be tricky to find an adequate replacement, since the club already has more than $85MM in guaranteed salaries on its books, reducing cap flexibility.
Trail Blazers Waive Festus Ezeli
The Festus Ezeli era in Portland is over. In a move that was long expected, the Trail Blazers have officially waived Ezeli, the team announced today (via Twitter).
Ezeli, 27, signed a two-year deal worth about $15MM with the Blazers last summer, with Portland envisioning him as a rotation player who could provide rebounding and rim protection. However, Ezeli’s troublesome left knee kept him out of action in the preseason and then the regular season as well — the veteran center ultimately underwent a season-ending procedure in March.
Although Ezeli’s contract was for two years, most of his $7.73MM salary for 2017/18 was non-guaranteed, and would have become guaranteed if he remained on Portland’s roster beyond June 30. The Blazers will now be on the hook for just $1MM of next season’s salary.
Ezeli will become an unrestricted free agent once he clears waivers, though it remains to be seen whether he’ll be back on the court to start the 2017/18 season. His knee surgery, which reportedly involved a cadaver donor, didn’t exactly sound like a routine procedure, but hopefully he’s able to resume his playing career.
J.J. Redick Interested In Rockets
One of the Clippers’ core players headed from Los Angeles to Houston this week, and Chris Paul may not be the last Clipper to make that move this offseason. According to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times (via Twitter), J.J. Redick is interested in joining the Rockets if the finances work out.
Those finances may be tricky. With Houston poised to be an over-the-cap team heading into the new league year, the club would be limited to the $8.4MM mid-level exception. A sign-and-trade is also a possibility, though the Rockets already sent a number of noteworthy trade pieces to the Clippers in this week’s CP3 deal.
Redick is coming off a season in which he earned about $7.38MM, which makes Houston’s MLE look reasonable. But as the top unrestricted free agent shooting guard on the market, he’ll likely be in line for a major raise, and at age 33, this looks like his best chance at one last big payday. As Turner notes in his report, a team like the Nets or Sixers may be willing to make a much more aggressive offer for Redick, perhaps in the range of $16MM+ per year.
Our list of 2017’s top 50 free agents has Redick ranked at No. 16.
Free Agent Rumors: Warriors, Noel, Hill, Tucker
With free agency less than nine hours away, there’s no meeting scheduled between the Warriors and Andre Iguodala, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. However, as Lowe points out, that could change any minute and the two sides are still optimistic about Iguodala’s return.
Meanwhile, Dewayne Dedmon is on the Warriors’ radar once again this summer, according to Sam Amico of USA Today (Twitter link), who reports the Dedmon/Golden State connection is worth watching particularly if Iguodala leaves. Dedmon would be a candidate to receive some or all of Golden State’s mid-level exception, though it’s not clear yet which MLE the Warriors will have. The club could end up with the full MLE ($8.4MM), the taxpayer mid-level ($5.2MM), or the room exception ($4.3MM).
Let’s round up more notes and rumors on free agency from around the league…
- The general sense around the NBA this year heading into free agency is that teams won’t be as aggressive and free-spending out of the gate as they were a year ago, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. As Shelburne observes (via Twitter), that’s creating some frustration for agents, since this year’s free agents want to be paid like last year’s were.
- Nerlens Noel is receiving interest from several teams and won’t limit his discussions to the Mavericks, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, who hears from a source that Dallas is willing to pay “market value” for Noel (Twitter link). The big man is a restricted free agent, giving the Mavs the right of first refusal.
- George Hill‘s preference is to remain with the Jazz, but the Spurs would be his second choice and the Timberwolves are “lurking,” says Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Raptors, Timberwolves, Nuggets, Kings, Sixers, and Clippers are among the teams expected to have interest in P.J. Tucker, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Toronto is schedule to meet with Tucker on Saturday, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- There’s still some mutual interest between the Kings and veteran point guard Ty Lawson, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). If Lawson returns to Sacramento, his role may look a little different, with De’Aaron Fox now in the picture and Darren Collison potentially signing elsewhere.
Latest On Cedi Osman, Cavs
Cavaliers draft-and-stash prospect Cedi Osman is heading to Cleveland to meet with Cavaliers staff, according to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Pick reports that Osman has informed his Turkish team, Anadolu Efes, that he’ll pull the trigger on his NBA opt-out worth $1MM.
Osman, a 22-year-old wing, was the 31st overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, but has remained in Turkey for the last two seasons. In 2016/17, he averaged a team-high 13.4 PPG in 34 Turkish League games for Anadolu Efes, chipping in 4.2 RPG and 1.6 SPG.
We heard earlier today that the Cavs have been in discussions with Osman, though it wasn’t clear the team would have the flexibility to sign him this offseason, since the Cavs will likely be limited to the taxpayer mid-level exception (worth $5.192MM) and may not want to dedicate most or all of it to a 22-year-old prospect.
For what it’s worth, Pick’s report doesn’t explicitly state that the Cavs have an agreement in place with Osman. While signing with Cleveland would be Osman’s easiest path to the NBA, the Cavs could still trade his rights to another club. Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net noted earlier today (via Twitter) that the Spurs are interested in Osman, though the two teams haven’t yet discussed a possible deal.
Knicks Waive Maurice Ndour
2:05pm: The Knicks have confirmed Ndour’s release (Twitter link).
1:14pm: The Knicks are waiving forward Maurice Ndour before the new league year begins, per Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link). Ndour’s minimum salary for 2017/18, worth $1,312,611, would have become guaranteed if he had remained on the roster through June 30.
Ndour, 25, joined the Knicks as an undrafted free agent last season and appeared in 32 games for the team. In 10.3 minutes per contest, the Senegalese big man averaged 3.1 PPG and 2.0 RPG. As Ian Begley of ESPN.com notes, Kurt Rambis and Clarence Gaines were fond of Ndour, so he might still have a spot on the roster if not for Phil Jackson‘s departure.
Marshall Plumlee‘s salary for 2017/18 is also reportedly set to become guaranteed if he’s not waived by the Knicks today.
Wizards Will Aggressively Look To Retain Otto Porter
As expected, the Wizards are expected to do all they can to retain restricted free agent Otto Porter in free agency. According to Mike Wise of The Undefeated (Twitter link), Washington plans to make an “aggressive” offer to Porter right when free agency opens at midnight tonight, and will match any offer he receives from another team.
The only scenario in which the Wizards may let Porter get away is in a sign-and-trade for an upgrade at the small forward spot. However, there are few players and teams around the NBA that would be a match for such a deal, outside of Paul George and the Pacers. As Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets, the most likely outcome is that Porter signs an offer sheet and Washington matches it. The Nets are viewed as a threat to come after the 24-year-old in free agency.
Porter had his best year as a pro in 2016/17, averaging career bests in PPG (13.4), RPG (6.4), and SPG (1.5), while posting an incredibly efficient .516/.434/.832 shooting line. I ranked him eighth overall in Hoops Rumors’ list of this year’s top 50 free agents.
Based on the latest salary cap projections from the NBA, a max offer sheet for Porter would be worth just over $106MM for four years.
Nine Teams Eyeing Danilo Gallinari
Danilo Gallinari is receiving interest from nine teams as free agency nears, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter). According to Amick, many of those clubs are contenders, though non-playoff teams like the Nuggets and Kings are also in the mix. Gallinari’s free agency will likely take a few days to unfold, Amick adds.
Gallinari, who will turn 29 next month, indicated in an interview earlier in June that the Nuggets wouldn’t necessarily be his first choice in free agency, and that he’d consider them like he would any other team. However, he reversed course this week, suggesting that one of his first meetings would be with Denver and that he’d like to re-sign with the Nuggets.
While Gallinari has acknowledged that he won’t be offered a maximum salary contract, ESPN’s Zach Lowe wrote earlier today that the market for the veteran forward should be in the range of $20MM annually.
I placed Gallinari 12th on my list of this year’s top 50 free agents, noting that his injury history may diminish his value a little, but predicting he’ll still do very well for himself on the open market.