Northwest Notes: Durant, Lillard, Saunders
Kevin Durant is excited to return to the court and he’s ready for the scrutiny that will come as rumors begin in earnest about his free agency, scheduled for next summer, as USA Today’s Sam Amick observes. Durant, who took part in a light practice with Team USA on Tuesday, said he’ll lean on only three people to convey his thinking.
“Along with Matty Ice [Thunder media relations manager Matt Tumbleson], I’ve got two people who I trust with my life, which is my agent [Rich Kleiman] and my manager [Charlie Bell], who is my best friend as well,” Durant said. “I trust them with my life. So if you hear sources or anything, don’t believe it if it didn’t come from them. I tell them everything. We bounce ideas off of each other. We collaborate on a lot of different things. They give me advice. So throughout this year, if you hear sources from anybody, it’s not true unless you hear it from Charlie Bell, Rich Kleiman or Kevin Durant.”
Bell is not to be confused with the former NBA player by the same name. See more from the Northwest Division:
- Damian Lillard knows the Trail Blazers will miss the four starters they lost this summer, but he likes the team’s new additions, as he tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Lillard, who signed a five-year max extension this summer, said he didn’t have an eye on maximizing his earnings with a short-term deal that would allow him to stay on top of an escalating salary cap, and he answered affirmatively when Kennedy asked if he could envision finishing his career with Portland. “Definitely. I mean, I love it here,” Lillard said. “I love living here. I love the people here. This is just my kind of place. After growing up where I grew up [East Oakland, California], you just want to be in a nice, peaceful place. You want to be somewhere where people respect you and somewhere that you have built something. And I feel like I’ve built something great in my first three years here and I will continue to build on it. I consider this a second home. As long as they’ll have me, I’ll be here.”
- Timberwolves shooting guard Kevin Martin hasn’t noticed a change in coach/executive Flip Saunders despite his battle with cancer, as Martin told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. “It hasn’t been affecting him at all this month,” Martin said. “He has been sending us texts, what he wants from us. He’s upbeat about the coming season.”
Knicks Rumors: Aldridge, Porzingis, Carmelo
The Knicks cited the presence of Kristaps Porzingis when they let LaMarcus Aldridge know they wanted him to play center, an idea that nixed the scheduled meeting between New York and the marquee free agent, as Aldridge said Tuesday, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
“If they’re going to tell me that I have to play center and I don’t want to play center, then of course it’s mutual after that. But before that I was excited to meet with them. I was interested,” Aldridge said. “But they wanted to have their draft pick play and I get it.”
Aldridge also said he spoke with other players to see if they would have interest in joining him if he were to sign with the Knicks, adding that he also chatted with Carmelo Anthony before the Knicks idea went poof, as Bondy relays. Here’s more on the blue-and-orange:
- Carmelo Anthony on Tuesday praised the additions of Robin Lopez, Arron Afflalo, Kyle O’Quinn, Derrick Williams and Porzingis but didn’t mention No. 19 overall pick Jerian Grant, for whom the Knicks traded Tim Hardaway Jr., notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Berman reported in June that Anthony was more upset about losing Hardaway than with the team’s decision to draft Porzingis. However, Anthony strongly denied Tuesday that he was upset with team president Phil Jackson‘s offseason moves.
- Before his Tuesday remarks, Anthony took to Instagram to defend the Knicks and make it clear that he has no intention of demanding a trade, as had been speculated, observes Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. In one comment, Anthony responded to a fan by saying in part, “You are stuck with me buddy.”
- Porzingis might have indirectly turned Aldridge away from the Knicks, but another free agent who jumped from the Trail Blazers to New York is impressed with this year’s No. 4 overall pick. “He’s good,” Arron Afflalo said, as Jonah Ballow of Knicks.com relays. “He’s obviously got a lot of talent, some God-given gifts being that tall and that athletic. What I love most about him was his mentality and his humbleness. I really feel like he wants to get better, he wants to be the best player he can be and with that mentality and those tools, it’s just a matter of time.”
Lakers, Spurs To Audition Sean Kilpatrick
TUESDAY, 7:07pm: Kilpatrick, whose workout with the Lakers reportedly went well, will also audition for the Spurs in the near future, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN tweets.
MONDAY, 10:27am: Sean Kilpatrick, a Timberwolves 10-day signee from this past season, will be one of several taking part in a Lakers workout today, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He joins Toure’ Murry, Bobby Brown, Eric Moreland and D.J. Kennedy among those reportedly trying out for the purple-and-gold.
Minnesota chose to sign Kilpatrick last season in large measure because of his proximity to New York, where the Wolves were about to play the Knicks and didn’t have enough healthy players. The 6’4″ shooting guard, who had been a short drive away as he played for the Sixers D-League affiliate, saw a fair amount of playing time during his stint with Minnesota, averaging 5.5 points in 18.0 minutes per game in four contests. The 25-year-old put on a strong scoring performance in summer league play last month for the Bucks, averaging 18.2 PPG in 28.7 MPG.
Kilpatrick hooked on with the Warriors near the end of the preseason last year and received a $35K partial guarantee before Golden State waived him prior to opening night. The W’s kept his D-League rights but later traded those to Philly’s D-League team. This past season was Kilpatrick’s first in the pros after he went undrafted in 2014. Before that draft, he spoke with Zach Links of Hoops Rumors about his desire to strengthen his reputation as a defender.
Which of the workout participants whose names have surfaced so far do you find most intriguing for the Lakers? Leave a comment to let us know.
The Beat: Paul Coro On The Suns
Nobody knows NBA teams better than beat writers, save for those who draw paychecks with an NBA owner’s signature on them. The reporters who are with the teams they cover every day gain an intimate knowledge of the players, coaches and executives they write about and develop sources who help them break news and stay on top of rumors.
We at Hoops Rumors will be chatting with beat writers from around the league and sharing their responses to give you a better perspective on how and why teams make some of their most significant moves. Last week, we spoke with Jody Genessy of The Deseret News about the Jazz. Click here to see all of the previous editions of this series.
Today, we gain insight on the Suns from Paul Coro the Arizona Republic. You can follow Paul on Twitter at @paulcoro, and click here to check out his stories on azcentral.com.
Hoops Rumors: How do you sense that people within the Suns organization feel about their pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge? Do they take the fact that they came as close as they did to landing him as an encouraging development that they can build on for next summer, or are they just disappointed that they didn’t get him?
Paul Coro: There is some of both. They sense that they were so close, perhaps even ahead at one point, in landing Aldridge that there was disappointment in not signing him. The team has been seeking an All-Star player for years and had an intricate plan to land one that they thought would fit their system and needs. Despite the disappointment, they are encouraged that a player of his caliber put the Suns ahead of all other suitors, except for San Antonio. As they struggle to land the team’s first major free agent signing since Steve Nash in 2004, being in the final two for Aldridge showed them that the franchise, market and team can still be a viable threat in free agency but each player and case is unique.
Hoops Rumors: The Tyson Chandler signing seemed to take everybody off guard, especially given the presence of Alex Len. Do you think the Suns still would have gone after Chandler if they didn’t think he would help them land Aldridge?
Paul Coro: The Suns say they wanted Chandler regardless of how the Aldridge pursuit turned out and they obviously had to be prepared for that outcome, given that the Spurs were such huge favorites to get Aldridge entering July. He definitely was a major piece in the plan to land Aldridge, who they knew had a great deal of respect for Chandler and wanted to play exclusively at power forward. It changed the race to have Chandler surprisingly walk in that room for the first Aldridge meeting. But on his own, Chandler addresses many of the Suns issues from last season. He addresses a major issue with lack of leadership. He is the pick-and-roll threat they have lacked with two starting guards who can run pick-and-roll and a system that needs a big man to help suck a defense into the paint to create space for perimeter shooters. He also helps the Suns’ shortcomings with interior defense and rebounding while providing a mentor to develop Alex Len, who is only 22 years old with 111 appearances.
Hoops Rumors: It doesn’t seem like there will be wholesale changes now that president of basketball operations Lon Babby has transitioned to advisory role, placing GM Ryan McDonough firmly in charge of player personnel. Still, is there a more subtle difference between the way Babby and McDonough operate that you think will have a tangible effect going forward?
Paul Coro: The basketball operation and its roles will stay much the same but it will be clearer for teams dealing with the Suns to know who is the point of contact for all things basketball. McDonough already has had his fingerprints on all aspects of the Suns’ operation and this only enhances his ability to lead the department.
Hoops Rumors: If the Morris brothers hadn’t run into legal trouble, do you think Marcus Morris would still be a Sun today?
Paul Coro: The legal issue certainly did not help Marcus Morris’ case but the Suns made the trade, in large part, to show Aldridge that they had the salary cap space to sign him without asking him to commit before they had made the moves to do so. It also addressed an issue at small forward, where the Suns were overloaded and have second-year player T.J. Warren earning a chance for more time. With Warren and P.J. Tucker, there would be little time for another player and that would have left Marcus Morris, a part-time starter, potentially on the outside of the rotation and disgruntled. Danny Granger, another small forward who had been rehabilitating in Phoenix, and Reggie Bullock, a swingman who can play some small forward, were also sent to Detroit in that trade.
Hoops Rumors: This past season was a disappointment. Which move from the 2014 offseason do you think the Suns regret the most?
Paul Coro: The signing of Isaiah Thomas was a good deal for the contract value and his production but it disrupted team chemistry by bringing in another point guard who was accustomed to starting and being a team’s primary playmaker. Goran Dragic already had seen the Suns trade for another point guard, Eric Bledsoe, and draft another point guard, Tyler Ennis, since he re-signed with the Suns. Then, Thomas entered the picture and outwardly aimed for a starting job and the status to close games. The Suns did not plan to use three point guards at once but it became a necessity to take advantage of their talent and keep each of the three point guards content, although it still left Dragic unhappy. He was the point guard who played most off the ball after being an All-NBA performer as a point guard in 2013/14, when Bledsoe missed half the season.
Hoops Rumors: It seems odd that Robert Sarver appears as willing to be aggressive as he is now in getting the Suns back to the playoffs after having been notorious for cost-cutting moves when the team was a title contender. Do you think Sarver has truly changed his approach?
Paul Coro: The franchise has matched an all-time low for playoff absence, a five-year dry spell that matches the stretch from the franchise’s second through sixth seasons. The Suns remain aggressive because they want to get back in the playoffs and do not feel like they are that far away, especially given the season they had in 2013/14. Their research also makes them not believe in the idea of tanking because of how long it takes to rebuild and the lack of a guarantee for it to work, not to mention the economic impact on the franchise in the meantime. This is a franchise that will soon be seeking public support for a new arena so a franchise-record playoff drought would not help generate that backing.
And-Ones: Brand, Nance, Wolves, Union
Elton Brand struck a pessimistic tone about his chances to play again, in a remark that Al Coqueran of The Examiner News relays. “I could get in shape if I got the call but this looks like the end of the run for me, right now it is family time,” Brand said at a youth basketball camp this weekend in his native Peekskill, New York. Still, while the 36-year-old indicated that he hasn’t received an offer from an NBA team yet, won’t rule out a return for what would be a 17th NBA season, observes Jane Lerner of The Journal News. “We’ll see what happens,” Brand said.
While we wait to find out if Brand will be playing in any of the games that will go on the calendar when the NBA announces the regular season schedule Wednesday, there’s more from around the league:
- The Lakers surprised Larry Nance Jr. when they made him a first-round pick, as Nance tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Chad Ford of ESPN.com ranked the Wyoming power forward the 46th-best prospect heading into the draft and Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress had him at No. 64. “I was just hoping to hear my name called at all,” Nance said. “So to hear it called 27th overall by the Lakers, I was like, ‘Really? Really?!’ I had a sense of disbelief because it was just so crazy. I mean, I was just fighting to hear my name called at all and now I’m picked in the first round by the best franchise in history? I couldn’t have dreamt up a better scenario.”
- Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor doesn’t anticipate that coach/executive Flip Saunders will need to step away from his duties at any point this season, tweets Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Saunders remains in charge of the Wolves front office and as head coach in spite of a cancer diagnosis that the team revealed today.
- A court dealt the National Basketball Players Association a setback Monday as it fights to dismiss a lawsuit that former executive director Billy Hunter brought against the union, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Hunter, who alleges wrongful termination, is seeking at least $10.5MM. The matter will proceed in Los Angeles Superior Court, where Hunter has previously received a favorable ruling, Berger notes.
Northwest Notes: Waiters, Saunders, Connaughton
Dion Waiters doesn’t see any holes on the Thunder‘s roster, and he’s particularly impressed with new coach Billy Donovan and his staff, as he tells Nick Gallo of Thunder.com. Former NBA head coaches Monty Williams and Maurice Cheeks are among the assistants.
“I think they did a hell of a job as far as coaches, bringing in guys with experience who have been there before,” Waiters said. “They know what they’re doing. For a guy like myself, a young guy, I need those type of people around me so I can pick their brain.”
Waiters would become a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension by October 31st. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor conveyed optimism as he spoke about coach/executive Flip Saunders in the wake of the team’s revelation of his cancer diagnosis, as Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune relays (All Twitter links). The team will work around Saunders’ treatment schedule, Taylor said. “Something like this goes beyond basketball, that’s real life,” he said. “We all take care of each other.”
- The Baltimore Orioles drafted and signed Pat Connaughton a year before he joined the Trail Blazers, but basketball comes first for the former Notre Dame standout, as Ian Thomsen of NBA.com details. GM Neil Olshey is adamant that Connaughton, whom Portland took with the 41st overall pick in the NBA draft this year, won’t be playing professional baseball while he’s on his three-year deal with the Blazers, but Olshey won’t close the door on a long-term two-sport future for the shooting guard/right-handed pitcher. “Now, look,” Olshey said, “if he gets into a second contract down the road and that is something he wants to pursue, then that can be a discussion point …”
- Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge, himself a two-sport athlete, said the C’s almost drafted Connaughton, Thomsen notes in the same piece. Boston had the 33rd and 45th overall picks.
Flip Saunders To Stay In Wolves Job Despite Cancer
Doctors have diagnosed Flip Saunders with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, but he will continue with his duties as Timberwolves president of basketball operations and coach, the team announced. It’s a “very treatable and curable form of cancer,” the team said, and he’s currently undergoing chemotherapy. Still, he’s continued to work since the diagnosis took place eight weeks ago, according to the team.
“I am taking it step by step and day by day to understand how to best manage this process,” Saunders said. “I want to thank Dr. [Sheldon] Burns as well as my medical team at Mayo Clinic for their hard work in diagnosing my situation and creating a plan to help me achieve a cancer-free outcome. I am attacking this with the same passion I do everything in my life, knowing this is a serious issue. I also know that God has prepared me to fight this battle.”
Rumors about whether Saunders would hire someone else to coach and simply concentrate on the front office persisted until mid-June, when owner Glen Taylor declared that Saunders would remain coach. That statement would have come at about the same time as Saunders’ diagnosis. The Nuggets hired Michael Malone, who’d spent time with the Timberwolves last season in an informal role, two days prior to Taylor’s remark.
Saunders, 60, is poised to enter his 18th season as an NBA head coach. Sam Mitchell, who won Coach of the Year honors in 2007, is an assistant and an apparent favorite of Taylor’s who interviewed for the head coaching job last year before Saunders filled it with himself. GM Milt Newton is Saunders’ chief deputy in the front office.
Largest Trade Exceptions
The volume of teams going under the cap this season has drained the leaguewide supply of trade exceptions, which are only available to over-the-cap teams. We’ll likely see more trade exceptions build up throughout the season, since many teams have gone back over the cap thanks to their summer signings, but for now, only five trade exceptions are of at least $5MM in value.
This post shows each of them in detail, with an analysis of just how likely it is that the teams that have them will actually use them.
Cavaliers
Amount: $10,522,500
Obtained: Brendan Haywood (Trail Blazers)
Expires: 7/27/16
Likelihood of use: Excellent. Cleveland doesn’t want to pay taxes if it doesn’t have to, which is seemingly why it rolled over the Haywood contract into this trade exception in the first place; it looked as though the Cavs didn’t see an available player that could help them in the month leading up to Haywood’s guarantee date. Thus, they bought themselves an extra year. It seems likely that someone the Cavs like will become available from a team looking to clear salary between now and the end of next July, and Cleveland will be ready to pounce.
Timberwolves
Amount: $6,308,194
Obtained: Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
Expires: 8/23/15
Likelihood of use: Poor. The Wolves are running out of time with this one, with less than two weeks remaining until the anniversary of the Love trade. Minnesota has a young roster with veterans Kevin Garnett and Andre Miller already there to provide mentorship. The team probably isn’t going to make the playoffs this coming season, but that doesn’t figure to be a priority just yet for a still-developing bunch. The Timberwolves seem well set up to achieve their modest goals this season, so unless they feel like taking on someone like Mario Chalmers from the Heat just to collect assets, this exception seems destined to go unused.
Warriors
Amount: $5,387,825
Obtained: David Lee (Celtics)
Expires: 7/27/16
Likelihood of use: Fair. Just as with the Cavs, the Warriors are willing to pay taxes, but not just for anyone. Part of the reason they traded Lee in the first place was to clear some of their tax liabilities, so it would be surprising to see Golden State undo the progress it’s made in that regard. Still, the Warriors aren’t yet in line to pay the tax for 2016/17, so it’s reasonable to envision the team using the exception sometime next summer.
Bucks
Amount: $5,200,000
Obtained: Zaza Pachulia (Mavericks)
Expires: 7/9/16
Likelihood of use: Good. The Bucks are intent on a deliberate approach to team building, but a weapon like this is eminently valuable for a team with no shortage of financial flexibility for the future. The team is poised to enter this coming season with only about $49MM on the books for 2016/17, so the Bucks have plenty of leeway to add a player at the deadline who can boost their playoff chances, even if it’s somebody’s who’s on a long-term contract.
Timberwolves
Amount: $5,000,000
Obtained: Chase Budinger (Pacers)
Expires: 7/12/16
Likelihood of use: Good. Unlike the Love exception, it seems like Minnesota will find some way to use this one, if only because they have so much time in which to find a purpose for it. The Wolves can use it on a veteran to help a playoff push for 2016/17, making a deal reminiscent of the one the Wizards pulled off this summer for Jared Dudley.
The Basketball Insiders salary pages were used in the creation of this post.
Do you have trade ideas for any of these exceptions? Share them here by leaving a comment.
Extension Candidate: John Henson
The Bucks trudged through the muck of a 15-win season in 2013/14, and they watched the career of Larry Sanders, the breakout star of the 2013 playoff team, come apart at the seams. So, they deserve tons of credit for their fast ascent over the past 12 months, snagging the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference this past season and landing Greg Monroe, No. 7 on the June Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings. John Henson, Milwaukee’s lottery pick from 2012, has been there for all of it, and it seems like both sides want to continue their partnership for years to come, as they’re reportedly on track for a rookie scale extension before the October 31st deadline.
Still, Henson hasn’t exactly seemed the most likely candidate to become a franchise cornerstone. He’s never started more than 23 games in a season, and last year, he averaged just 18.3 minutes per game. Monroe’s presence makes it difficult to envision his role expanding, unless Milwaukee wants to play two traditional big men, the sort of arrangement that appeared to hasten Monroe’s departure from the Pistons. Besides, Jabari Parker looks like the team’s future at power forward, particularly with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton commanding spots on the wing. Henson may well start early in the season if Parker isn’t healthy, but the No. 2 overall pick will almost certainly reclaim his job before long.
Henson seems destined to become, at best, a sixth man if the Bucks keep their existing core together. Still, Milwaukee apparently sees him as a key part of that group, even though he seemed to be available, if only for a truly attractive return, at the trade deadline. Grantland’s Zach Lowe speculated last month that Henson would end up with salaries of $10MM or more, money that’s not altogether unwarranted for a 24-year-old center with a lottery pedigree who’s indeed been productive in his limited time on the floor. The perplexing part is that it’s the Bucks who appear ready to pay him.
The former 14th overall pick’s field goal percentage has risen each of the past two years from a subpar 48.6% as a rookie. He shot 56.6% this past season, a year in which he attempted a far greater percentage of his shots from 3 feet and in, according to Basketball-Reference data. Henson’s PER has held steady, and his 18.0 figure from 2014/15 matches his career mark. He’s a strong defender who did just fine inheriting the role of rim protector from Sanders, as he averaged an impressive 2.0 blocks per game in spite of his short minutes last season. Indeed, Basketball-Reference’s Defensive Box Plus Minus shows he made quite a leap this past season, though ESPN’s Defensive Real Plus Minus wasn’t quite as kind, ranking him as only the 31st-best center in that category. Still, the Bucks were a better defensive team with Henson on the floor by a measure of 2.5 points per 100 possessions, as NBA.com shows. Yet perhaps most noteworthy among the NBA.com data is that the Bucks were stronger overall when Henson wasn’t playing because of the disparity on offense. Milwaukee scored 102.4 points per 100 possessions when Henson sat and just 96.2 when he hit the court.
That’s a noisy stat, since it doesn’t account for the other personnel on the floor. Still, it highlights the notion that it would be a risky proposition to commit eight-figure salaries to a player who’s averaged only 8.1 points per game for his career.
The Bucks nonetheless have money to burn. They have only about $36MM committed for 2016/17, though that doesn’t include nearly $13.3MM in rookie scale team options for Parker and others that Milwaukee seems likely to exercise. Still, $49.3MM against a projected $89MM salary cap leaves plenty of flexibility, and the Bucks have to spend at least 90% of the salary cap anyway. Committing part of that money to an efficient, shot-blocking center who’s on the upswing probably wouldn’t constitute the worst move a team has ever made.
Most years, the smart play for the Bucks would entail waiting another year to see how they would find time and space for Henson amid the presence of Monroe, and whether Henson would take another step forward in his development. Next summer’s rising cap and relatively thin crop of 2016 free agents, after a few stars on the top, seems to be driving Milwaukee to the bargaining table now. The extension window provides for exclusive negotiating, so another team with even more cap space to play with, one that could offer Henson a starting job, can’t jump in with an eye-popping number and force the Bucks to match a player-friendly offer sheet, as might be the case in restricted free agency next summer.
The Jim Tanner client may jump at such an opportunity to cash in a year from now, but if the Bucks indeed come with an extension offer of $10MM or more per year, it would be exceedingly difficult for a player who didn’t see 20 minutes per game last season to pass that up. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Alec Burks extension from last fall, though Burks had played 28.1 minutes per game the season before the Jazz bestowed a deal worth $42MM plus incentives over four years. Burks missed most of this past season with a shoulder injury, and it’s not a given that the Jazz would be so munificent if he were a restricted free agent this summer. An injury, and a team that performs well in his absence, just as the Jazz did without Burks down the stretch this year, might lead the Bucks to conclude that Henson is expendable.
So, I think the sides will indeed come to an extension, and while Lowe’s $10MM-plus prediction seems surprising on the surface, the circumstances suggest that it’s a reasonable expectation. At worst, a fairly priced Henson could become a valuable trade chip for the Bucks down the road.
Do you think the Bucks and Henson will do an extension, and if so, how much do you think he’ll get? Leave a comment to tell us.
Players Traded Multiple Times
Luke Ridnour was the equivalent of a relay baton for a week this summer, having been traded four times in seven days before the Raptors finally waived his non-guaranteed contract. The veteran guard endured a whirlwind similar to what the unheralded Scotty Hopson went through last summer, when he, too, was traded four times before being released.
Still, Ridnour is in a class by himself when it comes to having gone through so many swaps in such a compressed time frame, and while he’s the only player to have been traded more than twice since the start of last season, plenty of others have endured multiple trades this year. Ridnour is one of 14 players to have been traded at least two times since the beginning of the 2014/15 regular season, and one of six such players who have since been released, become free agents, or signed with other teams. Zoran Dragic joined that group Monday, when the Celtics released him shortly after acquiring him from the Heat, who had traded with the Suns for him at the February deadline.
See the entire list of players traded multiple times since the beginning of this past season:
Traded four times
- Luke Ridnour (Magic to Grizzlies, Grizzlies to Hornets, Hornets to Thunder, Thunder to Raptors) — waived by Raptors, now free agent
Traded twice
- Matt Barnes (Clippers to Hornets, Hornets to Grizzlies)
- Steve Blake (Trail Blazers to Nets, Nets to Pistons)
- Reggie Bullock (Clippers to Suns, Suns to Pistons)
- Zoran Dragic (Suns to Heat, Heat to Celtics) — now on waivers from Celtics
- Danny Granger (Heat to Suns, Suns to Pistons)
- Jameer Nelson (Mavericks to Celtics, Celtics to Nuggets)
- Alexey Shved (Sixers to Rockets, Rockets to Knicks) — contract expired, now playing overseas
- Pablo Prigioni (Knicks to Rockets, Rockets to Nuggets) — waived by Nuggets, now playing with Clippers
- Tayshaun Prince (Grizzlies to Celtics, Celtics to Pistons) — contract expired, now free agent
- Austin Rivers (Pelicans to Celtics, Celtics to Clippers)
- Jason Thompson (Kings to Sixers, Sixers to Warriors)
- Gerald Wallace (Celtics to Warriors, Warriors to Sixers)
- Brandan Wright (Mavericks to Celtics, Celtics to Suns) — contract expired, now playing with Grizzlies