Greg Oden To Make Decision On Friday
Free agent big man Greg Oden will decide where he'll sign on Friday, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The Heat, Kings, Hawks, Pelicans, Spurs, and Mavericks are the teams in the running for the former first overall pick.
Spears initially reported last Tuesday that a decision from Oden was expected to come this week, and has since suggested that the 25-year-old is most intrigued by the Heat and Pelicans. Miami has been linked to Oden for the better part of 2013, and have always looked to me like the frontrunner, though New Orleans and other clubs are making a late push.
Of Oden's suitors, the Pelicans and Kings have the $2.65MM room exception available to offer, while the Heat have their mini mid-level exception worth about $3.18MM. The Hawks could waive some non-guaranteed salaries to clear a chunk of cap space, and the Mavs and Spurs can only offer minimum-salary deals. Of course, just because a team like the Heat has the flexibility to outbid other teams, it doesn't necessarily mean they'll offer that full MLE.
Mike Muscala Signs With Obradoiro
Second-round pick Mike Muscala has signed overseas with Blusens Monbus Obradoiro of the ACB League, according to the team. Muscala, who was drafted by the Hawks this June, confirmed the news himself, via Twitter.
Muscala, 22, was acquired by the Hawks as part of a draft-night deal that also landed the team Jared Cunningham and the No. 16 pick. The 44th overall pick played four seasons at Bucknell, averaging a double-double (18.7 PPG, 11.1 RPG) in his senior year.
On the heels of Erick Green's deal with Siena, Muscala becomes the latest American draftee to head overseas while his NBA team hangs on to his rights. Depending on the terms of Muscala's agreement, Atlanta should have the opportunity to bring him back stateside next summer.
Odds & Ends: Harrington, Ebanks, Mo Williams
Al Harrington recognizes that he's a candidate to be traded or bought out by the Magic, but tells Sam Amick of USA Today that he's healthier and believes he can still contribute, wherever he lands.
"Whatever situation I can get to where I can help a team win, that's what I want to do," Harrington said. "I don't want to play 36 minutes or none of that. Play 20, 25 minutes, just help mentor the young guys and stuff like that."
Here's more from around the NBA:
- Former Laker Devin Ebanks has received interest from the Hawks, Bucks, Bobcats, and Nuggets, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
- In his latest column on the Suns, Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic says that agent Arn Tellem was "five minutes away" from a deal for J.J. Redick with another team before the Suns and Clippers proposed the three-team trade that sent him to Los Angeles. Coro also notes that the Pacers had expressed interest in Luis Scola for months before acquiring him.
- Grizzlies CEO Jason Levien met with Mo Williams today in Memphis, tweets Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
- Within an excellent piece on the Thunder, Grantland's Zach Lowe shares a few interesting details on Kevin Durant's max contract and Oklahoma City's cap and tax situation.
Southeast Notes: Hardaway, Hawks, Heat
After helping lead Michigan to the Final Four in April and being drafted by the Knicks in June, Tim Hardaway Jr. is making more headlines than his father this year, but Tim Hardaway Sr. remains involved in the NBA, and is hoping to eventually land a larger role, as he tells Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida. Currently a scout for the Heat, Hardaway says he'd like to become the team's general manager down the road.
"That's my goal," Hardaway said. "That's why I'm here every day…. Everything is realistic. You just got to believe and make connections."
Let's round up a few more items from out of the Southeast division….
- The Hawks' waiver claim of Gustavo Ayon makes it likely that first-round pick Lucas Nogueira will spend the 2013/14 season in Spain, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Second-round pick Mike Muscala will probably play overseas as well, according to Vivlamore.
- In order to create the space necessary to claim Ayon, the Hawks renounced their rights to Ivan Johnson, tweets Jason Walker of Peachtree Hoops. The team can still re-sign Johnson, but no longer holds any form of Bird rights.
- In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes that it may make sense for the Heat to hang onto their mini mid-level exception through the summer and into the season.
Hawks Claim Gustavo Ayon
MONDAY, 9:10am: The Hawks have confirmed the move in a press release.
SUNDAY, 7:02pm: The Hawks have claimed Gustavo Ayon off of waivers, a league source tells Shams Charania of RealGM. Ayon tipped the signing earlier in the afternoon, writing "Go Atlanta Hawks" on his Facebook page earlier in the afternoon.
The Bucks released Ayon on Thursday due to their glut in the frontcourt, but the 6'10" big man received heavy interest due to his inside presence and affordable $1.5MM contract. Ayon is expected to get a fair trial to earn a spot in a Hawks rotation that has lacked a young, developing center alongside Al Horford, Charania writes. The 28-year-old has averaged 4.8 PPG and 4.3 RPG in two NBA seasons for three different clubs.
Eastern Notes: Price, Magic, Antic, Raptors, C’s
Ronnie Price's minimum-salary contract with the Magic was originally reported as a one-year deal, but in his latest update of the team's books at ShamSports.com, Mark Deeks notes that Price will actually be locked up for two years. The second season will be non-guaranteed, with Orlando having the chance to avoid Price's cap hit if he's released on or before July 10th, 2014. Here are more Magic notes, more contract details from Deeks, and more items from around the Eastern Conference:
- While it's been a fairly quiet offseason for the Magic, the team still needs to resolve a few outstanding issues, says Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Among Robbins' tidbits: The team is making sure there are no possible trades involving Hedo Turkoglu and Al Harrington before getting serious about buyouts; the club's $17.8MM Dwight Howard trade exception will likely go unused; and the Magic were never as interested in Eric Bledsoe as various reports suggested.
- Pero Antic's contract with the Hawks is worth a guaranteed $1.2MM for 2013/14 and a non-guaranteed $1.25MM in '14/15, notes Deeks.
- In his latest update of the Raptors' salaries, Deeks points out that the second and third years of Quentin Richardson's new contract with Toronto will become guaranteed if he's not waived by January 1st, 2014. In other words, there's no chance that Richardson sticks on the team's roster all season. The Raps will likely release the veteran prior to opening night.
- J. Michael of CSNWashington.com explores a few possible options for the Wizards' 15th roster spot.
- New Celtics head coach Brad Stevens appeared on WEEI's Green Street podcast, and provided plenty of interesting quotes on a variety of Celtics-related topics. Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com passes along the highlights.
Potential Destinations For Gustavo Ayon
Before Gustavo Ayon's 2013/14 contract could become fully guaranteed yesterday, the Bucks made a somewhat surprising decision, electing to release him and avoid paying his modest $1.5MM salary. Ayon isn't a star, or even a starter, but he has size (6'10") and has exhibited an ability to be productive and efficient (15.1 PER) in limited playing time in his first two NBA seasons. As ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton tweeted last night, the 25-year-old would make a good, cheap fourth or fifth big man for many teams around the league.
Ayon is currently on waivers, set to become a free agent this weekend if he goes unclaimed. Considering we recently saw promising big man Bernard James clear waivers without any teams placing a claim, it's certainly not a lock that any club claims Ayon — particularly since his $1.5MM salary would be fully guaranteed for a team that grabbed him off waivers.
Still, let's assume that a number of teams are at least mulling the possibility of placing a claim, if not entirely committed to the move quite yet. Ayon isn't on a minimum-salary contract, which means not every NBA team is able to submit a claim. As we note in our glossary entry on the waiver process, only teams with at least $1.5MM in cap space or a traded player exception worth $1.5MM+ are eligible to claim Ayon.
Keeping those criteria in mind, and recalling that if two or more teams place a claim, the club with the worst record last season gets first priority, here are the teams who could claim Ayon, in order of priority:
- Charlotte Bobcats: Renouncing Gerald Henderson would be necessary to place a claim on Ayon, so the Bobcats probably won't be in the mix.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Like the Bobcats, the Cavs would have to make a corresponding move (waiving C.J. Miles' non-guaranteed contract) to create the necessary room for Ayon, so they're not a likely suitor.
- Philadelphia 76ers: The 76ers still appear to have more than $11MM in cap room, per Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
- Utah Jazz: Within the same piece, Deeks notes that the Jazz should still be about $2.4MM below the cap, even without making additional cap-clearing moves.
- Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks have about $1.8MM in space, according to Deeks, and could create more by waiving their non-guaranteed players. That figure doesn't take into account Pero Antic's new deal with the team though.
- Golden State Warriors: Having created a pair trade exceptions in their three-way deal with the Nuggets and Jazz, the Warriors could use the smaller of the two ($4MM) to claim Ayon.
- Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers created a TPE worth Eric Bledsoe's salary (about $2.6MM) in the trade that sent him to the Suns.
- Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies have stockpiled a number of TPEs, but the $2.08MM exception created in last January's deal with the Cavs would make the most sense for claiming Ayon.
- Denver Nuggets: In the aforementioned three-way deal with Golden State and Utah, the Nuggets created a trade exception worth nearly $10MM.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC has a pair of TPEs large enough to absorb Ayon — one was created when they moved Eric Maynor, while the more recent one came as a result of signing-and-trading Kevin Martin.
Even though 10 teams can technically place a waiver claim on Ayon, there's no guarantee that any of them actually will. Pelton thinks the Sixers, Jazz, Warriors, and Clippers represent the likeliest candidates for a claim, and I agree with him.
Philadelphia and Utah have room to add salary (in the Sixers' case, they need to add salary to reach the cap floor) and are heading into rebuilding years, which would allow them to take a long look at Ayon. Meanwhile, the Warriors and Clippers could each use one more big man, and Ayon's inexpensive salary wouldn't take Golden State into tax territory.
If Ayon goes unclaimed, I imagine he'd strongly consider returning overseas, since he'd at least have a chance to earn more playing time there. Don't be surprised to see one of the 10 NBA teams above take a shot on him though.
This post originally listed the Magic as a team eligible to claim Ayon, but because Orlando traded him in February, the club can't claim or re-sign him until the one-year anniversary of the deal.
Eastern Notes: Wall, Cartier Martin, Antic
SB Nation's Tom Ziller isn't totally convinced that the Wizards need to offer a maximum contract to John Wall this summer, pointing out that at worst, he'd be no more expensive to retain as a restricted free agent one year from now. He mentions Stephen Curry and Jrue Holiday as perfect examples where their respective teams were able to get good discounts by negotiating early extensions, but in Washington's case, offering a max extension now would eliminate potential negotiating leverage next summer in the event that Wall has a subpar season in 2013-14. Though Ziller understands why Wall deserves a maximum contract now, he argues that there'd be little risk and tangible potential benefit in waiting until next year to offer that type of deal.
Here are a few more news and notes out of the Eastern Conference:
- In addition to their interest in free agent center Greg Oden, the Heat are also keeping their eye on Mo Williams, says Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld.
- Emiliano Carchia of Sportando passes along a report that Cartier Martin is close to a deal with Olympiacos (hat tip to Eurohoops). The 28-year-old swingman spent last season with the Wizards.
- Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets that new Hawks addition Pero Antic had previously passed up an offer to join the Magic in 2008.
- After bringing back Kenyon Martin, the Knicks are still in the market for one more point guard and possibly another big man, notes Newsday's Al Iannazzone.
- Josh Newman of SNYNets.com reports that Brooklyn forward Tornike Shengelia will have surgery next Wednesday to repair a damaged meniscus in his left knee and will most likely miss the FIBA Eurobasket Games in September at the very least.
- With the departure of Mike Miller, Heat reserve James Jones is looking for an opportunity at an expanded role next season (NBA.com via the Associated Press).
Odds & Ends: Raptors, Camby, Oden, Bynum
The Raptors' buyout of center Marcus Camby will save the club $2MM in 2013/14, according to Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld. The veteran had a guaranteed $5.4MM between this year's salary and the $1MM partial guarantee on 2014/15 and he agreed to part ways with Toronto for $3.4MM. The Raptors will take a cap hit of $2.8MM for the coming season and $646K for 2014/15. Here's more from around the Association..
- In addition to the Hawks, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter) hears that the Spurs and Pelicans also have representatives at Greg Oden's latest workout audition in Indianapolis.
- It's no secret that the Andrew Bynum deal didn't work out for the Sixers and yesterday, new CEO Scott O'Neil apologized to fans for how it turned out, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
- There are two main questions to consider when weighing the idea of the Wizards giving point guard John Wall an extension, argues Tom Ziller of SBNation.com.
- The Raptors announced that they have filled out their coaching staff with assistants Bill Bayno and Jesse Mermuys.
Hawks Sign Pero Antic
The Hawks announced that they have signed Macedonian forward/center Pero Antic. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Antic's agent tipped the signing yesterday on his Twitter and indicated that it was a one-year deal with an option for year two. The Hawks still appear to have some cap space, so Antic could be getting more than the minimum salary.
Antic helped lead Greek powerhouse Olympiacos to back-to-back Euroleague titles in 2012 and 2013 and has also captured championships in Serbia, Russia, and Bulgaria. In 31 Euroleague contests in 2012/13, Antic averaged 6.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG in 17.5 minutes of action.
The 30-year-old is the captain of the Macedonian National Team, helping the team to the semifinals of EuroBasket 2011 in Lithuania. He averaged 11.5 points and 8.8 rebounds over 11 games in that year's tournament, while collecting three double-doubles.