Lakers Rumors: ‘Melo, Gasol, Rambis, Brooks
It’s the Lakers’ turn to try to impress Carmelo Anthony today as the free agency tour for the Knicks star continues. Kobe Bryant has cut short his European vacation to be in attendance for the pitch, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com details. Still, there’s plenty of other business for the Lakers to address, since they have just four players under contract and no head coach. We’ll round up the latest here:
- The Lakers would like to pair Anthony with Pau Gasol, and if the team were to convince Anthony to sign, Gasol would be far more likely to follow suit, as Shelburne reports in the same piece.
- The Knicks have offered Kurt Rambis a four-year contract worth about $1.2MM a year to become the team’s lead assistant coach, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Lakers assistant appeared early last month to be among the front-runners to become the Lakers head coach, but a more recent report indicates that he’s fallen behind other candidates.
- MarShon Brooks is the only Lakers free agent whom the team has yet to reach out to, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- The Hawks are among the teams that have spoken with Nick Young, as agent Mark Bartelstein tells MeMenamin for the same piece.
- Xavier Henry, who’s recovering from wrist and knee surgeries, will work out for the Lakers when healthy before exploring options with other teams, McMenamin also writes.
Southeast Rumors: Monroe, Sefolosha, Wizards
Restricted free agent Greg Monroe and unrestricted free agent Thabo Sefolosha are at the Wizards‘ Verizon Center, tweets Gene Wang of the Washington Post. No offer was made to Sefolosha during the visit and there isn’t much for the Wizards to offer, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (on Twitter). More out of the Southeast..
- The Heat inquired on Sefolosha today, league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter), but they’re predictably far from concrete offers.
- The Wizards and Gortat were haggling over the number of years in his deal, and Washington’s willingness to include the fifth season convinced the big man to agree to re-sign, as Michael Lee of The Washington Post explains.
- Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter) hears that the Hawks are in hot pursuit of Kent Bazemore.
Southeast Rumors: Lowry, McRoberts, Livingston
The Heat‘s infatuation with free agent guard Kyle Lowry has been well documented, but the Big Three haven’t been actively recruiting him, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. More from the Southeast Division..
- Josh McRoberts‘ agent tells Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that there’s mutual interest between his client and the Hornets. “Quite a few teams have expressed” interest, Mike Conley Sr. said in a phone interview. “We haven’t gone into any in-depth discussions yet, but we know how the Hornets want him.”
- The Hornets approached Shaun Livingston about a possible return to Charlotte, a knowledgeable source tells Bonnell. Livingston played for Charlotte in the 2010-11 season when they were under their maiden Bobcats moniker.
- Kent Bazemore has heard from the Hawks, Celtics, Mavs, Lakers, Suns, and Bulls, tweets Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (Twitter link) adds the Spurs to that list.
Southeast Rumors: Wizards, Heat, McRoberts
Plenty of teams are hoping for a chance to pitch to LeBron James, but the Wizards aren’t one of them, as owner Ted Leonsis explained in an appearance on 106.7 The Fan today. Scott Allen of The Washington Post has the transcription.
“You’d have to have cap space and you’d have to renounce all your free agents,” Leonsis said. “Then you’d have to be able to call their agent and say, ‘Would you think he would consider coming here?’ So, I never understood the grandstanding. Some of the bloggers have said, just get in the mix and throw your name out there. OK, so you generate positive pixels and it creates these faux expectations, and LeBron is in total control of his future. LeBron will do what LeBron wants to do. We have to be able to control what we want to control, and right now our main targets are retaining our players.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Heat‘s top two targets for outside improvement appear to be Kyle Lowry and Luol Deng, but neither seem likely to end up with the team, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Deng is unwilling to take a discount to go to Miami, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, probably putting him out of reach (Twitter link).
- Hornets free agent power forward Josh McRoberts and the Blazers have mutual interest in a deal, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears.
- The Wizards would like to bring back free agent point guard Garrett Temple, but they face competition from the Heat, Magic and Bulls, who have also expressed interest, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Hawks are interested in re-signing Elton Brand, but the Knicks are eyeing him, too, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Eastern Rumors: ‘Melo, Waiters, Pierce, Blatche
As Carmelo Anthony is set to visit with the Bulls today, two sources tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that Anthony’s wife is quite satisfied with living in New York and doesn’t want him to leave the Knicks. ‘Melo and Tom Thibodeau are in agreement that the Bulls shouldn’t trade Taj Gibson in any scenario, even as the Bulls attempt to clear salary to sign the Knicks star, Berman also writes. Many around the league reportedly see the Knicks as having the inside track to retain Anthony, though the Bulls appear to have the lead among teams looking to take him away from New York. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Celtics have made contact with about 30 players in the hours since free agency began, with Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons among them, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
- Cavs GM David Griffin said Friday that he sees No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as “a big two-guard,” leading some executives to believe that the Cavs will look to trade Dion Waiters this summer, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This also explains Cleveland’s push to sign Trevor Ariza, Kennedy surmises (on Twitter).
- The Clippers loom as the largest threat to sign Paul Pierce away from the Nets, but the Nets still seem optimistic about their chances of keeping him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Nets GM Billy King reached out to all of the team’s free agents except Andray Blatche, as King told reporters today, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (Twitter link). That signals Blatche’s imminent departure from Brooklyn, Bondy concludes.
- Suitors believe they can pry restricted free agent Mike Scott from the Hawks with an offer sheet at the right amount, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pistons are expected to meet with Anthony Morrow soon, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
- Head coach David Blatt and lead assistant Tyronn Lue helped sell Kyrie Irving on signing the $90MM extension with the Cavs in their overnight meeting, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Latest On Greg Monroe
10:27am: The Cavs, too, are considering a run at Monroe, according to Stein (Twitter link).
9:52am: There’s a “high possibility” the Pistons will swing a sign-and-trade if Monroe gets a max offer from another team, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link).
TUESDAY, 12:58am: The Hawks also contacted Monroe tonight, a source close to the situation tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball insiders (on Twitter).
9:48pm: The Blazers also have serious interest in a sign-and-trade for Monroe, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
8:53pm: The Pistons have made it known that they want to keep Greg Monroe but won’t rule out a sign-and-trade if his price tag gets to be too high, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein adds (link) that the Hawks are one team that keeps coming up as a potential suitor for Monroe when he officially becomes a restricted free agent.
You can add the Magic to the list of teams that are said to have interest in the big man, Stein tweets. Monroe, who is ranked fifth in Chuck Myron’s Free Agent Power Rankings for this summer, figures to have many suitors in the coming weeks. However, the big man doesn’t sound all that eager to take a free agency tour.
“Most people would rather, if possible, not to have to go through it and just re-sign with the team they are with so you can have some stability and be secure,” Monroe said earlier this month. “Right now it’s like the draft process all over again. You don’t know if you will have to change cities or where you will end up. It’s a good thing that there are teams out there that want me. But at the end of the day, if I didn’t have to do it, I wouldn’t have a problem with that either.”
And-Ones: Sterling, Parker, Crawford
Attorneys for Donald Sterling will argue that wife Shelly Sterling exerted undue influence on one of the two doctors who examined Donald and declared him mentally incompetent, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com details. Donald’s mental competency is no longer on trial. Instead, the probate trial between the Sterlings will center on whether Shelly followed the rules of the Sterling family trust, according to Shelburne. Those rules required that two mental health experts submit letters to the effect that Donald was mentally incompetent before allowing Shelly to take full control of the trust, Shelburne writes. Shelly agreed to sell the Clippers in May to Steve Ballmer, claiming that she fully controlled the trust, but Donald is fighting the sale. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Spurs kept Tony Parker through Monday, unsurprisingly, but doing so means his $3.5MM partial guarantee is now a fully guaranteed $12.5MM salary for 2014/15.
- Jamal Crawford of the Clippers had his $1.5MM partial guarantee bumped to a full guarantee of $5.45MM when he remained on the roster through Monday.
- Kosta Koufos remains on the Grizzlies, so his $500K partial guarantee is now a $3MM full guarantee.
- Parker’s teammate Austin Daye is also still with the Spurs, so his $250K partial guarantee is a fully guaranteed minimum salary.
- The Hornets kept Jeffery Taylor around, so his minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed.
- It appears as though the Magic are officially under the cap, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That means Orlando loses access to a $6,077,280 trade exception it could have reaped from last week’s Arron Afflalo deal.
- The Hawks didn’t give big man Gustavo Ayon a qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). There weren’t reports of qualifying offers to James Southerland of the Pelicans, Adonis Thomas of the Sixers and Bernard James of the Mavs, so presumably they’re all unrestricted free agents as well.
- The Wolves hired Ryan Saunders as an assistant coach, the team announced (on Twitter). Saunders, the son of Wolves head coach/executive Flip Saunders, had served the last five seasons as a Wizards assistant.
Raptors, Hawks Exchange Salmons, Williams
TUESDAY, 7:13am: The Raptors and Hawks officially announced the trade overnight before the July moratorium began. Williams and the rights to Nogueira go to Toronto while Salmons and a 2015 second-rounder go to Atlanta.
MONDAY, 10:00pm: The snag in the trade has been resolved. The Raptors will also send a 2015 second-round choice to Atlanta in the deal, tweets Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun.
The Raptors should end up with a $2.133MM trade exception for Salmons, Pincus tweets.
8:06pm: The Hawks still aren’t expected to keep Salmons past the new deadline, a league source tells Charania (on Twitter).
8:04pm: The Hawks won’t release Salmons today, and both sides have agreed to extend the waiver deadline to July 10th, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 8:25pm: The Hawks will indeed waive Salmons tomorrow, Wojnarowski reveals in his full story.
7:37pm: The Raptors have agreed to send John Salmons to the Hawks in exchange for Lou Williams and the rights to Lucas Nogueira, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Marc Stein of ESPN first revealed that the two sides were in advanced discussions of such a deal (Twitter link).
Salmons’ $7MM contract is only partially guaranteed for $1MM if he’s waived by the end of tomorrow, as Chuck Myron explained in our recap of upcoming guarantee dates. Given Atlanta’s reported interest in a run at a Carmelo Anthony/LeBron James pairing, it’s probably only a matter of time until Salmons finds himself a free agent. In 78 games for the Kings and Raptors last season, Salmons averaged just 5.0 points per game while shooting 36.8% from the floor.
Williams is a few years removed from his prime, but it’s unlikely the Hawks are giving up the former stud point guard and rights to Nogueira, a 2013 first-round selection, just to get $7MM off of their books. It’s possible, and maybe even likely, that this move is a precursor to a bigger deal, suggests Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). The trade should be finalized sometime tomorrow, tweets David Aldridge of TNT, giving Atlanta the window required to shed Salmons’ contract before it becomes guaranteed.
Heat Interested In Luol Deng
12:25am: In addition to the previously reported Heat, Mavs, and Hawks, the Clippers, Lakers and Bulls have all registered interest with Deng, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
12:06am: Miami’s Pat Riley has called Luol Deng‘s reps and registered his significant interest, a source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). The Mavericks were the first team on the horn with Deng early this morning but, apparently, Miami wasn’t far behind.
Earlier this week it was reported that the Hawks are thinking about making a run at Luol Deng this summer. The Hawks have $15MM+ to spend on free agents this offseason after their trade with the Raptors and Deng appears to be one of their prime targets. However, it may be another team out of the Southeast Division that comes away with the Man from Sudan.
In 63 games for the Bulls and Cavs this year, Deng averaged 16.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG. He finished with a combined 15.2 PER and, unsurprisingly, the numbers show that he performed better in Chicago.
Southeast Rumors: Ariza, Gortat, Ferry, Lewis
The latest out of the Southeast Division..
- Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears that Trevor Ariza is after a deal in the $8-11MM per year range and likes the idea of playing in a warm-weather city. Still, staying with the Wizards is an intriguing option for him.
- The Wizards spent the evening reaching out to their own free agents, Marcin Gortat, Ariza, and Drew Gooden, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
- Ariza has significant interest from clubs, including the Cavs, and Wizards coach Randy Wittman will be in Los Angeles tomorrow morning to meet with him, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. A league source close to Ariza tells Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) that his potential destinations include the Suns, Clippers, Lakers, Heat, Mavs, Jazz, Cavs, and Wizards.
- Hawks‘ GM Danny Ferry plans to be “very aggressive” in free agency, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
- Heat free agent forward Rashard Lewis is expecting interest from the Heat, Pacers, Thunder, Raptors, and Spurs, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
- So far the Hornets have not expressed interest in Luol Deng, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter).
- The Hawks were the first team to call unrestricted free agent Kent Bazemore after midnight, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). The Hawks are really high on the Lakers free agent.
- Unrestricted free agent Trevor Booker has attracted interest from several teams, including the Heat, Wolves, Jazz, Nets, Knicks, Magic, and Wizards, sources tell Michael Lee of the Washington Post (on Twitter).