Atlanta Hawks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southeast Notes: Dragic, White, Hawks

July 10th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

All five Southeast Division teams made official moves Thursday. Check out our transactions log for a full recap of the first day following the July Moratorium. Here’s more from around the division:

Goran Dragic never spoke with other teams during his free agency, tweets Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post. Dragic wanted to remain in Miami and believes in team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra, Lieser adds, and he was willing to give the Heat a discount to make it happen. “I could get more [money], but it doesn’t matter,” Dragic said, as Lieser relays (Twitter links). “The most important thing is that I’m happy, and I’m happy to be here and surrounded with all the coaches and all the players. I don’t want to be miserable on the court.”
The Wizards could receive an outside shooting boost this season from Aaron White, whom the team selected with the No. 49 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, writes Ben Standig of CSNWashington.com. Speaking about being drafted by Washington, White said, “I love this fit for me. Their style fits in my style. It should be a good match.“
The Hawks renounced their rights to Elton Brand and John Jenkins to clear cap space Thursday for their flurry of official moves, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They also renounced DeMarre Carroll and Pero Antic, who’ve signed elsewhere, and Gustavo Ayon, whose rights they’d retained even though he signed a multiyear deal overseas this past September.

Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.

Hawks Sign Justin Holiday

July 9th, 2015 at 6:18pm CST by Eddie Scarito

THURSDAY, 6:18pm: The deal is official, the Hawks announced in a press release. “Justin’s abilities on both ends of the court excited us as we looked to add depth on the wing,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said. “His combination of length and versatility with a great work ethic give him a chance to be a solid contributor on the court, and his experience on a championship team this past season and his high-character will be great positives for our locker room.”

6:14pm: Holiday’s deal is for two years, and is fully guaranteed, Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets.

WEDNESDAY, 5:46pm: The Hawks have reached an agreement on a contract with unrestricted free agent Justin Holiday, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The exact length and amount of the deal has not been disclosed at this time.

The 26-year-old spent last season with the NBA champion Warriors, appearing in 59 games and averaging 4.3 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 11.1 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .387/.321/.822. His career averages are 4.4 PPG, 1.3 RPG, and 0.9 APG.

Golden State had declined to extend Holiday a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent, and the team was considering re-signing him for less than the $1.147MM tender that would have counted against the team’s cap figure. The shooting guard will provide depth at the wing for the Hawks, who are set to lose unrestricted free agent DeMarre Carroll to the Raptors.

Hawks Sign Edy Tavares To Multiyear Deal

July 9th, 2015 at 5:28pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 5:28pm: The deal is official, the Hawks announced in a press release. “We followed Edy closely the past two seasons with Gran Canaria and are excited to officially have Edy as a member of our team. We would like to thank the coaches and executives of Gran Canaria as they played a significant role in Edy’s development and we look forward to continuing his improvement in our player development program,” coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said.

JULY 2ND, 10:26am: The Hawks will sign draft-and-stash center Edy Tavares, also known as Walter Tavares, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’s a multiyear arrangement, Spears adds. Atlanta drafted him 43rd overall last year, but he remained overseas with Spain’s Gran Canaria for the 2014/15 season. He pulled an about-face after agreeing to a $3MM offer from Turkey’s Fenerbahce to take half that amount to play for the Hawks, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter links).

Tavares, who stands 7’3″, averaged 8.2 points and 7.9 rebounds in 22.1 minutes per game for Gran Canaria this past season. The numbers weren’t impressive, but he did enough to earn an All-Euroleague First Team selection.

The precise terms of his deal are unclear, so it’s not certain whether the Hawks will use cap room or an exception to sign Tavares.

Hawks Re-Sign Paul Millsap

July 9th, 2015 at 1:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

1:36pm: The deal is indeed official, the Hawks confirmed via press release.

JULY 9TH, 12:46pm: The team hasn’t made any formal announcement, but Millsap refers to it as official on his verified Twitter account.

JULY 1ST, 5:43pm: The Hawks and forward Paul Millsap have reached an agreement on a new contract, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link). The deal will be for three years, and approximately $58MM, with a player option included for the final season, TNT’s David Aldridge relays (on Twitter). Millsap also received interest from the Magic, who were the biggest threat to take Millsap away from Atlanta, as well as the Pacers, Mavericks, and Knicks.

Atlanta will presumably use cap space to ink the veteran and not his Early Bird rights. Millsap’s deal will pay him approximately $18.8 MM for the 2015/16 campaign, $19.646MM in 2016/17, and $20.492MM during the final season, which includes the previously mentioned player option, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal Constitution tweets.

Millsap made 73 appearances for the Hawks last season, all as a starter, and averaged 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 3.1 assists in 32.7 minutes per contest. His career numbers through 687 games are 13.5 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 2.0 APG, with a slash line of .503/.340/.728.

Hawks Acquire Tiago Splitter

July 9th, 2015 at 11:11am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

11:11am: The deal is official, the Hawks and Spurs announced via press release. The rights to Georgios Printezis and a protected 2017 second-rounder go to San Antonio, according to the statements.

“We’re excited to bring Tiago to Atlanta. He’s played an important role in a winning environment, has a great understanding of our system and will add to our core character,” Hawks coach/executive Mike Budenholzer said as part of the statement. “Tiago also brings championship experience and we look forward to adding his interior presence to our team.”

JULY 9TH, 10:36am: The trade is expected to become final today, with the Hawks sending the rights to a draft-and-stash player and a heavily protected future second-round pick, according to Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on Twitter).

JULY 1ST, 10:49am: The Spurs will trade Tiago Splitter to the Hawks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). The move comes just after San Antonio agreed to re-sign Danny Green, so the Splitter move will presumably allow San Antonio to preserve the cap flexibility to compete for LaMarcus Aldridge and other marquee free agents, Wojnarowski adds. The deal can’t become official until July 9th, after the July Moratorium, and details of the swap are still in flux, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, who suggests other components would allow the Hawks to retain Paul Millsap if they can keep him away from the Magic. Atlanta is expected to absorb Splitter into cap space, as Windhorst writes in a full story.

The arrival of Splitter, who was set to make $8.5MM this coming season and $8.25MM in 2016/17, has a 15% trade kicker in his deal, so he’ll see a bonus of about $2.5MM, notes Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Still, with DeMarre Carroll off to Toronto, the Hawks can afford that and still make a max bid for Paul Millsap.

The Spurs had made Splitter available, but it seemed as though there was a scenario in which San Antonio could sign Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili while still keeping Splitter, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote. That probably didn’t involve the lucrative deal that San Antonio reached with Green, however.

Hawks Waive Austin Daye

July 9th, 2015 at 10:27am CST by Chuck Myron

The Hawks have waived Austin Daye, as Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports (Twitter link) and as the team confirms via press release. His salary was non-guaranteed, but the move clears his $1,185,784 cap hold from Atlanta’s books as it attempts to clear cap room for its agreed-upon re-signing of Paul Millsap and trade for Tiago Splitter.

Atlanta originally signed Daye to a pair of 10-day contracts this past season before inking him to a deal that covered the rest of 2014/15 with the non-guaranteed 2015/16 season tacked on. It wasn’t surprising to see the Hawks, who have close ties to the Spurs, pick him up not long after the Spurs waived him, but the former 15th overall pick didn’t see much action in Atlanta, appearing in only eight regular season games for an average of 9.5 minutes per contest. He didn’t make it in to any of Atlanta’s playoff games.

Teams rarely claim players off waivers, but if a team is interested in Daye, it wouldn’t require too much of an investment to put a claim in on him, since his salary would remain non-guaranteed. Waiver claims require a $1K fee to the league office.

Raptors Sign DeMarre Carroll

July 9th, 2015 at 9:26am CST by Chuck Myron

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

JULY 9TH, 9:26am: The deal is official, the team announced (on Twitter).

JULY 1ST, 11:07am: The Raptors will sign DeMarre Carroll, the small forward revealed on his verified Twitter account (hat tip to Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com). It’s a four-year, $60MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The Hawks weren’t going to give much more than $50MM on a four-year arrangement, tweets Arnovitz. Carroll said the Pistons and Suns also had interest but the Raptors simply went over the top with their offer, tweets Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The Knicks, Lakers and Celtics all appeared to have interest in Carroll, too, as did the Hawks, but they were growing pessimistic about retaining the Mark Bartelstein client in tandem with Paul Millsap. Carroll is a three-and-D wing whose value skyrocketed after he signed a two-year, $5MM deal with Atlanta in 2013, and it wasn’t an easy decision for him to leave the Hawks, as he told Vivlamore (Twitter link).

Toronto will use much of its max-level cap space on Carroll, likely cutting the team off from a pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge or another marquee target. The Raptors gained $6.6MM worth of cap flexibility when they traded Greivis Vasquez last week.

Atlantic Notes: Saric, Kaun, Jason Smith, Carroll

July 8th, 2015 at 10:58am CST by Chuck Myron

The Sixers apparently wanted to bring Dario Saric over for 2015/16, and Saric shared that desire, reports David Pick, writing for Basketball Insiders. However, the No. 12 pick in the 2014 draft doesn’t have a way to escape his contract with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes until next year. Saric was circumspect when Pick asked him about the idea of coming stateside and the situation with his overseas team.

“It’s really hard for me to answer that,” Saric said. “I can’t comment. I think I’m ready to compete in the NBA, against the best players, but we built a great team in Efes and I want to help the club win a championship.”

In any case, it would seem that Saric is anxious to sign with the Sixers as soon as he can, rather than wait until 2017, when he wouldn’t be bound by the rookie scale, though that’s just my observation. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:

The most recent talks the Nets have had with the Cavaliers were about Cleveland draft-and-stash center Sasha Kaun, not Joe Johnson, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reports as part of a larger piece. The Nets and Kaun, a 6’11” 30-year-old, have had mutual interest for some time, tweets Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Spurs have also reportedly talked to the Cavs about him. The Johnson discussion is reportedly dormant.
The Knicks offered their $2.814MM room exception to Jason Smith, but he turned it down for more money from the Magic, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. New York could have offered as much as $3,933,600 via Non-Bird rights, but agent Mark Bartelstein made it clear there are no hard feelings, as Berman relays. “The Knicks made a great attempt to try to keep him,’’ Bartelstein said.
Soon-to-be Raptors signee DeMarre Carroll authored an homage to the Hawks, his former team, in The Players’ Tribune, giving credit to a handful of figures, especially former Hawks assistant Quin Snyder, who’s now head coach of the Jazz.
New Raptors D-League one-to-one affiliate Raptors 905 has named Dan Tolzman as its GM and Jesse Mermuys its head coach and assistant GM, the team announced. Both were already employed within the Raptors organization.

Southeast Notes: Heat, Wizards, Carroll

July 5th, 2015 at 11:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Pat Riley has denied that he’s looking to do so, but the Heat may look to trade Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen to reduce their luxury tax costs, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Miami is staring at a bill of more than $30MM if no further moves are made, and replacing Chalmers and Andersen with minimum salary players [Jackson mentions Carlos Boozer as a possibility] or near-minimum guys [such as Marcus Thornton] could reduce that by about $20MM. Another trade candidate is Josh McRoberts, but Jackson says many in the organization would prefer to keep him. Jackson also credits Goran Dragic for taking a less-than-maximum deal to help the Heat keep Dwyane Wade. Zoran Dragic, who is entering the final year of his contract, admitted to being frustrated by a lack of playing time in Miami after being acquired from Phoenix in February.

There’s more news from the Southeast Division:

A sign-and-trade deal involving Chalmers, Andersen or McRoberts could be the best way for the Heat to get the extra shooter they need, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinel. The columnist also contends Chris Bosh, if fully healthy, is a better fit for Miami than LaMarcus Aldridge would have been.
Free agent Drew Gooden will probably be re-signed by the Wizards, writes J. Michael of CSNWashington.com, but Michael isn’t as optimistic about Kevin Seraphin. Gooden is valuable for Washington because he provides both size at 6’10” and three-point range, Michael argues, but he expects Seraphin to go somewhere he can get more playing time. The free agent center has been linked to the Lakers, Suns and Spurs. Michael also notes that the Wizards have been stocking up on wing players this summer in an effort to match up better with the Cavaliers’ LeBron James. So far, Washington has agreements to add Gary Neal, Jared Dudley and Kelly Oubre.
The Hawks told DeMarre Carroll they had to make a choice between him and Paul Millsap in free agency, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. Carroll said the Raptors made it clear to him that he was a top priority. “I came in and realized this team really wants me and the coach really wants me,” he said (Twitter link). “… At the same time, then they threw the money at me, and that was even bigger.” (Twitter link). Carroll is to receive $60MM over four years from Toronto.

And-Ones: Seraphin, Stuckey, Antic

July 3rd, 2015 at 11:28pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Wizards expect Kevin Seraphin will test the free agent market, and they’ll attempt to find a sign-and-trade partner for the big man, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (Twitter link). Such a sign-and-trade would be structured so that Washington could gain a trade exception, Michael adds (on Twitter).

Here’s more from around the league:

The Hawks have rescinded their qualifying offer to Pero Antic, making him an unrestricted free agent, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The move was made to maximize the team’s available cap space, Pincus adds. Antic has already signed a two-year deal with Fenerbahce, a Turkish club.
Free agent point guard Rodney Stuckey is receiving interest from the Cavaliers, and while talks thus far have been exploratory, the interest is mutual, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group tweets.
The Hornets have expressed a willingness to work out a sign-and-trade involving Mo Williams, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports relays (on Twitter).
The Lakers have expressed interest in Jason Smith, league sources tell Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
The Grizzlies would be amenable to working out a sign-and-trade deal for center Kosta Koufos, Wojnarowski tweets. The Yahoo! scribe mentions the Clippers as a team who should consider trying to work out a deal with Memphis.
With the Magic missing out on free agent target Paul Millsap, who re-signed with the Hawks, the team may pass on adding another power forward this summer, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “We’ll continue to look at the free agents that are available,” Orlando GM Rob Hennigan said. “We’ll continue to look at trade opportunities. We still have quite a bit of cap space. Our tune has not changed. We’ll continue to look for opportunities. And if we feel like the opportunities make really good sense, then we’ll be as aggressive as anyone to try to complete a deal.”
When asked specifically about adding a power forward, Hennigan said, “I’m not sure. I think we have enough on the roster as is. It just goes back to those opportunities again. Like I said a few weeks ago, we have to be careful of spending just to spend,” Robbins relays.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.