Eastern Notes: Knicks, Antic, Turner, Hornets
The Knicks are bringing back Carmelo Anthony on a near-max deal, but Knicks president Phil Jackson signaled that austerity is ahead for the club as it looks to preserve cap flexibility for next summer. Marc Berman of the New York Post has the details, including Jackson’s comments about his desire for the Knicks to get out of the tax, a goal that the team will be unable to accomplish for the coming season without significant salary-clearing trades.
Here’s more from the east:
- The Hawks will not waive Pero Antic and his $1.25MM contract for next season will be fully guaranteed tomorrow, reports Chris Vivlamore of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link).
- The Celtics are interested in free agent Evan Turner, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com, echoing last week’s report from Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities on Minnesota’s pursuit of the former No. 2 overall pick. Turner apparently remains the top priority for the Wolves, Wolfson adds (Twitter link).
- The Hornets haven’t improved their team since free agency began, writes Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer. The team has failed to make a big splash, and the signing of Marvin Williams won’t offset the loss of Josh McRoberts to the Heat in free agency, opines Fowler.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Heat Frontrunners For Luol Deng?
8:40am: The Heat and Deng are still significantly apart on salary, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Deng has been turning down $10MM per season offers for months, notes Windhorst.
8:11am: In the wake of losing the talents of LeBron James to the Cavaliers, the Heat are scrambling to fill their void at small forward. Their primary target looks to be free agent Luol Deng, who James technically replaced in Cleveland. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Miami has emerged as the frontrunner to land the veteran’s services.
Heat president Pat Riley and Deng’s agent Ron Shade spent significant time negotiating on Saturday and plan to reconnect this morning to continue working towards an agreement, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The two sides are reportedly discussing a a two-year, $20MM contract, per the article. Miami is competing with several teams, including the Hawks, Suns and Mavericks, to sign Deng.
Deng’s career numbers are 16.0 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 2.5 APG over ten NBA seasons. His career slash lines are .457/.329/.773.
Eastern Rumors: Knicks, Miller, Deng, Ariza
With Carmelo Anthony set to re-sign with the Knicks, New York can now focus on setting up a supporting cast to play alongside him. One name they’re interested in re-signing is Toure’ Murry, tweets Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. Here’s more from around the East:
- Phil Jackson is said to be willing to include Iman Shumpert as part of a deal to dump the contracts of Amar’e Stoudemire, Andrea Bargnani, or J.R. Smith, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
- There is a gap between what the Cavs can offer and what Mike Miller is seeking, but not enough to end their talks, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
- In contrast to an earlier report of the Hornets interest in Lance Stephenson, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that Charlotte has shown no such signs.
- The Heat are now open to bringing free agent Mario Chalmers back at the right price, writes Ira Winderman of The Sun Sentinal. Miami drafted point guard Shabazz Napier, and was reportedly looking to sign-and-trade Chalmers before LeBron James elected to take his talents away from South Beach.
- The Hawks have re-engaged talks with Luol Deng, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. We heard earlier that the two sides had reached an impasse on salary for the veteran small forward.
- Kent Bazemore was in contract discussions with the Lakers when he agreed to join the Hawks, but Atlanta’s urgency precluded Los Angeles from re-signing the guard on their time table, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Trevor Ariza received the same offer from the Wizards as he agreed to with the Rockets, but the difference in taxes between Washington and Houston will save him approximately $3MM, tweets Michael Lee of The Washington Post.
- Ariza asked for an annual salary of $10MM to stay with the Wizards, sources tell J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. Michael says that Washington declined to meet Ariza’s demands in order to maintain cap space in 2016, when Kevin Durant will become a free agent.
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
Southeast Rumors: Stephenson, Deng, Wade
Lance Stephenson will be targeted by multiple teams in the coming days, reports Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. The Hornets had their offer sheet for Gordon Hayward matched by the Jazz, and a league source tells Deveney that Charlotte’s secondary plans of upgrading their roster will bring a Stephenson pursuit to the forefront of the free agency landscape. Here’s more out of the Southeast..
- The Heat are making progress in their pursuit of Luol Deng, writes Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Deng doesn’t have an offer from Miami yet but expects to talk with the team today, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
- Meanwhile, the Hawks, who were rumored to have interest in Deng, likely won’t be making a deal with the small forward, since the two sides are a ways apart on the dollar amount of a potential contract, reveals Amick (on Twitter)
- Both Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem are negotiating the length and salary of deals to return to the Heat, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of Bleacher Report. The pair are expected to remain in Miami on multi-year contracts after opting out to restructure around LeBron James, who left for Cleveland.
- The Hornets pursuit of Marvin Williams was put on hold while Charlotte waited for the Jazz to officially match their offer sheet for Hayward, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Presumably, those negotiations will resume now that Utah has matched the Hayward deal.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Hairston, Bazemore, Heat
First-round draft pick P.J. Hairston told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he had no idea his agent, Juan Morrow, wasn’t union-certified, as Kami Mattioli of The Sporting News reported Thursday. It’s unclear if the Hornets, who acquired Hairston in a draft-night trade with the Heat, engaged in negotiations with Morrow, but they’d be subject to a $50K fine if they did, as Mattioli notes.
More from out of the east:
- The Cavaliers pursuit of free agents Ray Allen and Mike Miller has intensified over the last few hours, reports Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
- Miller has a serious interest in joining the Cavaliers, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
- The Bulls and Hornets are in pursuit of Kirk Hinrich, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Heat are engaged in discussions with free agents Trevor Ariza and Luol Deng for their job opening at small forward, tweets Wojnarowski.
- Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders tweets that the Hawks and the Hornets are showing serious interest in Kent Bazemore.
- There is a strong market for Heat free agent Chris Andersen, but he remains “very loyal” to the Miami organization, and hasn’t made a decision about where he’ll sign, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Hawks Waive John Salmons
FRIDAY, 7:53am: The Hawks have indeed waived Salmons, the team announced via press release. The release states that the team officially made the move Thursday, so the guaranteed portion of Salmons’ salary remains only $1MM.
THURSDAY, 1:49pm: Atlanta continues to explore its options regarding Salmons, Vivlamore writes in an updated version of his story, noting on Twitter that the possibility of trading Salmons still exists.
1:36pm: The Hawks will waive John Salmons by the end of today, a source tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Today’s the last day the Hawks can waive him before his $1MM partially guaranteed salary becomes fully guaranteed for $7MM, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.
The Joel Bell client agreed to delay that date from July 1st before the trade that sent him from the Raptors to the Hawks became official, and while that seemingly gave Atlanta a window to see if it could flip the 34-year-old swingman, it appears no such swap is in the works. Salmons will almost assuredly clear waivers and become a free agent in two days, and while he no longer boasts a double-digit scoring average, as he did for four straight seasons earlier in his career, he remained a part of the rotations in Sacramento and Toronto this past season, splitting the year between both the Kings and Raptors. He averaged 5.2 points and shot 38.7% from three-point range in 22.1 minutes per game overall in 2013/14.
The move will free up cap flexibility for the Hawks, who’ve pursued Luol Deng, among others, so far this month. It’s flexibility that Atlanta’s likely been planning for all along, since they weren’t expected to keep Salmons from the moment they acquired him.
And-Ones: Early, Bazemore, Lin, Nets
The Knicks may have gotten the steal of the draft when they selected Cleanthony Early with the 34th pick, opines Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The article also notes that Early plans on using his draft night slide as motivation, saying, “At the end of the day, they made their decision, they made their choices, and they’re going to have to live with that, they’re going to have to stick with that. I’m going to have to live with that, I’m going to have to stick with that. But the only difference is, the way my heart is set up and the way I am, I’m going to use it as motivation. It fires me up. If I ever feel like I am being overlooked or I feel like I got something to prove, I’m willing to accept that challenge. The only thing I have to do is get in the gym and continue doing what I’ve been doing.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- Trevor Mbakwe‘s contract with Germany’s Bamberg has opt out clauses for both the NBA and the Euroleague, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando.
- It’s been a strange ride for the Nets that got even stranger when Jason Kidd left town, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- Reports of a deal between the Hawks and Kent Bazemore are premature but Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that he has a face-to-face meeting with Atlanta tomorrow.
- The Sixers are willing to trade with the Rockets for Jeremy Lin, reports Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, but Philly wants a first rounder included in any deal.
- The Cavs are trying to create a maximum salary slot for LeBron James, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Cleveland is searching for a third team to take Marcus Thornton from the Nets, so the Cavs could then unload Jarrett Jack, Wojnarowski reports.
Eddie Scarito contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Deng, Mavs, Ariza
Luol Deng is apparently sticking to his desire for $12MM per season, notes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link). Deng has spoken with the Heat who are unsure about how much cap space they will have until LeBron James, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade make their decisions, and the Hawks who are currently unwilling to pay that amount, according to the tweet. Deng’s best chance might be with the Mavericks who he is scheduled to meet with soon, opines Amico.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders runs through the best and worst performances from the first day of Summer League action, including some lottery picks making their debuts.
- The Rockets and the Cavaliers are getting closer to creating max contract slots, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Rockets are discussing deals for Jeremy Lin, and the Cavs have been shopping Jarrett Jack packaged with a draft pick, notes Wojnarowski.
- Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders looks at the Mavericks cap situation after the reported signing of Devin Harris.
- Trevor Ariza met with the Heat on Thursday, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post (Twitter link).
And-Ones: Clippers, Williams, LeBron
Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link) wonders what the Clippers recent signing of Spencer Hawes will mean for the extension chances of DeAndre Jordan and Jamal Crawford with the team.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Unless the Clippers are willing to trade J.J. Redick or first-round picks to the Nets for Paul Pierce, a sign-and-trade is unlikely, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- Free agent forward Marvin Williams has been in discussions with the Spurs, Heat, Wizards, Hornets, Clippers, Magic, and Suns, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com (Twitter link).
- Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman breaks down the Thunder‘s Summer League roster.
- The Lakers indeed met today with Rich Paul, the agent for LeBron James, as expected, Aldridge tweets.
- Talks are advancing between Luol Deng and the Hawks, though no agreement is pending, notes Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link).
Latest On Luol Deng
The Hawks were reportedly mulling a run at Luol Deng as of last week, and it looks like they’ve indeed moved forward with a pursuit, as coach Mike Budenholzer was set to meet Thursday with the 29-year-old forward, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Amick also adds the Rockets to the list of suitors for the client of Herb Rudoy and Ronald Shade.
Deng is seeking $12MM salaries, roughly the same amount of space Atlanta has beneath the cap, Amick writes. Atlanta’s deal with Thabo Sefolosha has apparently boosted the team’s stock with Deng, who has a close relationship with his former Bulls teammate, and Deng is also friends with Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, another former sidekick in Chicago, Amick notes.
Reports on Thursday indicated that the Clippers and Deng had mutual interest and that the 10-year veteran would speak Thursday with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, who’s searching for sign-and-trade scenarios to upgrade his capped-out roster. Still, it looks like Rivers is demanding too much for Cleveland’s liking for the Cavs to go along with a sign-and-trade involving Deng, Amick says.
Deng is unlikely to make his decision before Carmelo Anthony does, according to Amick, and the Rockets in particular would be inclined to wait as they hold out hope of signing ‘Melo. The Heat, Wizards, Mavs, Suns, Bulls have all been reported to have interest in Deng since the start of free agency, but while Shade has said his client would welcome a chance to re-sign with Chicago, Amick deems the idea of Deng reuniting with the Bulls as a long shot. Washington would only remain in the market for Deng if they can’t come to terms with Trevor Ariza, Amick also says.