Contract Details: Nelson, Tucker, Roberts
Wednesday was the last day that teams with outstanding qualifying offers out to restricted free agents could unilaterally withdraw them. Clubs can still withdraw qualifying offers, but doing so would require the player’s consent, and it would require the team to renounce any form of Bird rights on the player. No team withdrew a qualifying offer before the deadline, though that’s not entirely surprising, since there are only five unsigned restricted free agents left. We ran down the latest news on each of them earlier this week, and not much has changed since then.
As we wait for the last of the restricted free agents to make their decisions on where to sign, let’s have a look at the latest contract details that have leaked out from around the NBA..
- As expected, Jameer Nelson is slated to make $2,732,000 for the Mavs next season, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Nelson’s deal features a $2,854,940 player option for the 2015/16 campaign, adds Stein.
- The three-year contract P.J. Tucker signed with the Suns will pay him $5.7MM in 2014/15, passes along Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who goes on to reveal that the deal is worth $5.5MM and $5.3MM during the following two seasons, with only $1.5MM guaranteed in year three (Twitter link).
- Brian Roberts‘ two-year, $5.6MM contract with the Hornets will be fully guaranteed without any player or team option, reports Pincus (via Twitter).
- James Ennis signed a three-year deal with the Heat that’s mostly non-guaranteed, save for a $200K partial guarantee for this season, according to Mark Deeks of Sham Sports. The first year will become fully guaranteed if he sticks through opening night.
- The Knicks gave Cole Aldrich one year at the minimum salary when they signed him earlier this month, Deeks reveals.
- Grant Jerrett‘s contract with the Thunder runs four years at the minimum salary, with full guarantees on the first two seasons and no guarantees for the last two, Deeks notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Lakers Sign Ed Davis
JULY 23RD: The deal is official, the team announced on its website, as it introduced Davis to the media today.
“Ed is a versatile, young frontcourt player who, if he continues to work hard, will be a valuable contributor,” Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak said in the team’s statement. “We look forward to him furthering his development with the Lakers and are excited by what we think he can offer our team.”
JULY 16TH: The Lakers and Ed Davis have agreed on a two-year, $2MM deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The second year of the contract will feature a player option, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter links).
Davis spent the 2013/14 campaign with the Grizzlies, where he averaged 15.2 minutes per contest over the course of 63 games. While his nightly marks of 5.7 PPG and 4.1 RPG don’t jump off the page as particularly noteworthy, Davis was quietly able to post a respectable 15.9 PER. The big man won’t necessarily fill the void created by Pau Gasol‘s departure to Chicago, but he could definitely prove to be a low-cost, efficient signing for the Lakers.
The official terms of the contract haven’t been released yet, but Davis’ salary for the upcoming season will likely be $981,084, the minimum a player of his experience can make. Otherwise, Los Angeles will need to dip into the room exception if they want to be able to ink the Landmark Sports client.
Davis’ signing will add even more youth to the Lakers’ power forward slot, which had already been set to feature promising rookie Julius Randle. Davis, who mostly played the four last season, will have a good chance to see some serious minutes on the floor for Los Angeles in 2014/15.
Atlantic Links: Nets, Lin, Williams, Celtics
Here’s this Saturday’s quick overview of all the latest chatter coming out of the NBA’s Atlantic Division:
- Daniel O’Leary of the New York Daily News thinks the Nets missed a perfect opportunity to strike a deal for the now-LA bound Jeremy Lin. O’Leary suggests it would have been keen of Brooklyn to craft a deal for Lin that would have dumped Deron Williams‘ lengthy and expensive contract in favor of Lin’s expiring pact.
- Lou Williams is excited to get a fresh start with the Raptors after an injury-riddled stint with the Hawks, as he tells Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. Thanks to an ACL-tear, Williams played in just 99 games for Atlanta over the course of two seasons,
- Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com tracks all of the pieces from last year’s Celtics/Nets trade that send Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in exchange for assets. Forsberg opines that although it’s been just one season since the deal, it isn’t too early to declare Boston the winner of the trade.
Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Central Notes: Harris, Gasol, Mirotic, Pacers
Cavs second-rounder Joe Harris has been impressing Cleveland team officials during summer league play, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. The team can envision signing Harris and using him as a sharpshooter off the bench in a similar role that Mike Miller and James Jones will likely possess, says Pluto. More from the Central..
- Pau Gasol‘s contract the Bulls will pay him $22,346,280 over three years, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His first year salary is set at $7,128,000, but it’ll increase to $7,448,760 and $7,769,520 in his second and third seasons, respectively.
- Both Gasol’s new deal and Nikola Mirotic‘s recent pact for the Bulls will carry a 15% trade kicker, relays Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- In addition to their escalating talks with free agent Aaron Brooks, the Bulls are also eyeing John Lucas III, reports Stein (on Twitter). Lucas has previously spent time in Chicago, having appeared in 51 games over parts of two seasons.
- Pacers VP of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddle was considered a top candidate to land the Grizzlies’ GM job, but he’s opted to retain his current position in Indiana rather than move forward with Memphis, reveals Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
Pau Gasol Signs With Bulls
JULY 18TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“We are really excited to add such a versatile player to our roster who has been both an All-Star and an NBA Champion,” Bulls GM Gar Forman said in the team’s statement. “Pau is a skilled player with a high basketball IQ and is a true pro and a proven winner.”
JULY 13TH, 10:46pm: It’ll be a three-year, $22MM+ deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
JULY 12TH, 4:35pm: Pau Gasol will be leaving Los Angeles to play for the Bulls next season, the big man announced on Twitter (hat tip to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News). Terms of the contract haven’t been released, but the Spaniard won’t be heading to Chicago via sign-and-trade, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN had noted earlier.
A hot name in the free agent market, the Arn Tellem client reportedly drew interest from the Spurs, Knicks, Thunder, and Heat, among others. The Lakers surely would have liked to work out a sign-and-trade for Gasol, but apparently the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement, and Gasol walks away from LA with the Lakers having nothing to show for it.
An earlier report from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports indicated the Bulls would give Gasol a starting salary in the neighborhood of $6MM if they couldn’t come to terms with Lakers on a sign-and-trade. Given that Chicago is over the cap, they’d actually only be able to offer Gasol a maximum salary of $5.305MM using the non-taxpayers mid-level exception.
If the team uses the amnesty provision to shed Carlos Boozer‘s contract before signing Gasol, they’ll be able to give him a higher payday, and it would give them greater flexibility to sign Nikola Mirotic. There have been conflicting reports on whether or not the club intends to use their amnesty, but owner Jerry Reinsdorf has a reputation as being cost-conscious, and he might not be willing to pay a player who’s not going to be playing on his team.
At 34 years old, Gasol is beyond his prime playing days, but he’s still able to put up more than respectable numbers. He was able to average 17.4 points and 9.7 rebounds per game last season over 60 games.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Mavs Re-Sign Devin Harris
JULY 17TH, 6:35pm: The deal is official, the Mavericks announced via a team release.
JULY 5TH, 8:50pm: Dwain Price of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link) is reporting that Harris’ deal is the same as the 3-year, $12MM that Patty Mills received from the Spurs.
2:16pm: A source tells Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (on Twitter) that the deal is actually four years in length and worth $16MM.
1:42pm: Harris’ deal will be worth roughly $9MM over three seasons, hears Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link).
1:15pm: The Mavericks and Devin Harris are finalizing a three-year deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Re-signing Harris became the team’s top priority after they traded Jose Calderon to the Knicks, Stein mentions.
Harris joined the Mavs on a one-year, minimum salary pact last season and performed well for Dallas coming off the bench. He averaged 7.9 points and 4.5 assists in 20.5 minutes per contest. Although those numbers are a far cry from the figures he was able to put up in his All-Star 2008/09 campaign, he proved himself as a still-capable contributor.
Stein doesn’t mention how much the contract will be worth, but it’s likely more than the minimum Harris agreed to last season. Of course, no deal can become official until July 10, when the league-wide moratorium on signings and trades expires.
Northwest Rumors: Hamilton, Love, Jazz, Thunder
Jordan Hamilton will be working out for NBA teams in Las Vegas tomorrow, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, and the Timberwolves will be among the teams in attendance, passes along Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter links). Any interest Minnesota has in the forward will likely have a hard time amounting to anything as a result of the club’s lack of roster space, adds Wolfson. Here’s more on the Wolves and the Northwest:
- One Eastern Conference coach doesn’t understand the reluctance that the Cavs and Warriors have been showing to give up important pieces to the Timberwolves in exchange for Love, as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated reveals (via Twitter). “If I’m Golden State, I trade Klay Thompson,” said the unnamed coach. “If I’m Cleveland, I trade Andrew Wiggins. Kevin is that good.”
- Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor spoke with NBA TV’s Steve Smith and said he believes Love will play with the team in training camp but stopped short of ruling out a possible trade, notes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press. “My preference is Kevin (Love) will come to camp – and I’m sure he will – and play with the team,” explained Taylor. “We are going to look at everything that makes sense that would make our team better, but we are not going to move a superb player like that without getting equal or more value back.“
- Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today recaps the summer that the Jazz have had thus far and explores the impact that rookie head coach Quin Snyder figures to have on the franchise’s progression moving forward.
- Anthony Morrow‘s decision to join the Thunder has the sharpshooting swingman excited, observes Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman. In choosing to head to OKC, Morrow elected to pass up on interest from several other teams, “too many teams to name,” as Morrow told Mayberry.
Southeast Notes: Jones, Seraphin, Boozer
Despite expressing interest in a return to the Heat, James Jones just couldn’t pass up the chance to play with LeBron James again. Although it’s not clear whether or not Miami had intentions of bringing Jones back for the 2014/15 season, as Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald details, there’s no doubt LeBron’s return to the Cavs influenced Jones’ decision to hook up with Cleveland. Here’s the latest out of the Southeast..
- The Wizards elected to let Kevin Seraphin hit restricted free agency this summer, but Washington wouldn’t be against bringing the big man back at a price lower than the $3.89MM his qualifying offer would have been worth, reports J. Michael of CSNWashington.com (on Twitter).
- The salary in the first year of Trevor Ariza’s new contract is $8,579,089, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports, so that’s the value of the trade exception the Wizards create from the sign-and-trade that sent Ariza to the Rockets. Washington is using part of that trade exception to accommodate this evening’s sign-and-trade acquisition of DeJuan Blair. The precise amount of the exception that the Blair trade uses won’t be known until Blair’s first-year salary figure is reported.
- The Hornets aren’t interested in placing a bid on the recently amnestied Carlos Boozer, reveals Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). Chuck Myron of Hoops Rumors had predicted as much earlier today when the club agreed to terms with Lance Stephenson.
- Andrew Perna of RealGM grades the Hornets‘ acquisition of Stephenson, praising Charlotte and criticizing the Pacers’ decision to let the shooting guard walk after the Heat seemingly lost a step this summer.
Chuck Myron and Cray Allred contributed to this post.
Rockets Close To Re-Signing Troy Daniels
5:24pm: The deal is expected to be for two years, tweets Feigen.
MONDAY, 5:14pm: The Rockets are finalizing the deal to sign Daniels today, reports Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 3:47pm: The Rockets are in serious discussions with restricted free agent Troy Daniels about a deal that would bring the guard back to Houston, tweets Shams Charania of RealGM. Daniels lacks much NBA experience, but he’s proven in his limited minutes and D-League stints that he’s a capable three-point specialist that fits the profile of a beyond the arc sniper that GM Daryl Morey covets.
Daniels stepped into the spotlight when he hit a go-ahead three pointer late in Game Three of the opening round in the 2014/15 playoffs. He’s played only 75 minutes of regular season NBA basketball, but he’s hit 40.1% of his three-pointers in the D-League, proving he can shoot with incredible accuracy.
Charania hears the two sides are working on a deal that should be completed soon (Twitter link). Bringing back the John Spencer client would certainly stand to help the shooting of Houston, which had the fifth highest team field goal percentage in the NBA last season.
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.