Knicks, Lakers Consider Trading For David Lee
1:32pm: The Lakers would be more likely to try to trade for Lee if they miss on their top three free agent targets than they would be to revisit trade talks with the Kings for DeMarcus Cousins, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
1:27pm: The Knicks have had discussions about reacquiring David Lee, reports Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether those talks involved the Warriors or were internal. Lee played the first five years of his career in New York and still owns a home in the area, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post (on Twitter). Golden State and representatives for Lee, a Mark Bartelstein client, have reportedly agreed to work together to find a trade taker for the power forward and his salary of nearly $15.494MM for this coming season as the Warriors seek to lessen their tax burden.
New York is prioritizing free agents, but Lee is a possibility, according to Beck. The Knicks missed out on Greg Monroe, who’s off to the Bucks. They’re meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Robin Lopez, though they seem long shots for both Aldridge and Jordan.
New York could absorb Lee into cap space, allowing the Warriors to move off his entire salary. That would be a boon for Golden State, which figures to pay the tax even if Lee isn’t around but would save on extra penalties if his salary is off the books. Lee fell out of the rotation this past season but has twice been an All-Star.
Grizzlies, Marc Gasol Progress Toward Deal
Marc Gasol‘s preference is to sign a five-year deal for the max with the Grizzlies, and as the Arn Tellem client and the Grizzlies continue to hammer out the structure of a would-be deal, other teams have given up pursuit, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Spurs, who appeared to have the best shot to lure him from the Grizzlies, as well as the Lakers, Knicks and Bucks all scuttled plans to chase him before free agency began, convinced he would stay in Memphis, as Stein details.
It’s likely that Gasol will re-sign with the Grizzlies today, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported Wednesday, and Stein wrote earlier this week that the 30-year-old center didn’t plan to meet with other teams. Grizzlies owner Robert Pera was among a contingent of Grizzlies higher-ups who traveled to Spain to ensure Gasol is formally on board with staying.
The seven-year veteran is No. 4 in our Free Agent Power Rankings. He’s eligible for a starting salary worth about 30% of the salary cap, or roughly $19MM, with 7.5% raises from the Grizzlies.
Latest On Enes Kanter
10:45am: The Knicks have been in contact with Kanter, though not today, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets, pointing to Robin Lopez as a more likely target for New York.
11:13am: Both Kanter and the Thunder are eager to complete a deal, as Royce Young of ESPN.com hears (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 12:55am: The Blazers are keeping an eye on Kanter’s situation and might want to talk to him, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
TUESDAY, 1:49pm: The Thunder will meet with Enes Kanter Wednesday in Chicago to discuss a potential deal running three or four years in length with salaries that could reach the max if he triggers incentives, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. Kanter will give Oklahoma City the first crack at the restricted free agent before he seeks offer sheets from other teams, as Charania details. The Mavericks may be one of several teams with interest in luring him away, sources tell Charania.
However, the Bucks have yet to express interest, Charania writes, which contradicts an earlier report from Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Kennedy clarifies that the Bucks, as well as the Celtics, have Kanter down their list of priorities, though there is still some interest from those teams (Twitter link).
Kanter put up impressive numbers with the Thunder following the trade that brought him in from Utah, and Oklahoma City is committed to re-signing him, as GM Sam Presti recently told Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman.
Latest On LaMarcus Aldridge
9:48am: Hughes, the Blazers assistant who said the team expected Aldridge to depart, has no knowledge of Portland’s free agent dealings, as The Oregonian’s Jason Quick hears (Twitter link).
8:29am: The Raptors did well in their meeting with Aldridge, but it’s unlikely he picks them, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.
THURSDAY, 8:22am: Blazers assistant coach Kim Hughes told WTHI-TV of Terre Haute, Indiana, on Tuesday that the team expected Aldridge to leave, as Mike Tokito of The Oregonian transcribes (video link; scroll ahead to 2:05 mark).
“Well, people don’t realize we just went young,” Hughes said. “We didn’t publicize it, but we lost LaMarcus Aldridge. It hasn’t been declared yet, but I’m sure he won’t come back. We will go young.”
5:22pm: The Suns have emerged as contenders along with the Spurs to land Aldridge, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
3:53pm: The Blazers aren’t to be counted out for Aldridge yet, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who indicated in his last tweet that Aldridge was staying in touch with his incumbent team.
3:44pm: San Antonio impressed Aldridge the most, with the Rockets a close second, Wojnarowski hears (Twitter link).
3:36pm: The Lakers are out of the running for Aldridge, who disliked the basketball portion of the team’s presentation, Bresnahan reports (Twitter link). Aldridge was “floored in a good way” by Houston’s analytics and their on-court projections as he met with them, Bresnahan adds in a second tweet. Aldridge didn’t hear the answers he wanted to hear from Bryant during the Lakers meeting, Bresnahan also hears (Twitter link). Moreover, Aldridge wanted more of a basketball focus to the meeting, Wojnarowski tweets.
3:01pm: The Suns’ deal with Tyson Chandler piqued Aldridge’s interest, as USA Today’s Sam Amick hears. Phoenix wouldn’t have the cap space for both, so it would have to clear salary. Marc Stein of ESPN.com suggests that Portland might have interest in a sign-and-trade of Aldridge involving Eric Bledsoe, given that GM Neil Olshey drafted Bledsoe (Twitter links), though the latest report on Bledsoe indicates that the Suns will not deal him.
2:44pm: Aldridge won’t be re-signing with the Blazers, a source close to his situation tells Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, identifying the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs and Rockets as front-runners (Twitter link). Still, the Spurs made a “powerful” presentation to Aldridge today and their status as the favorites remains unchanged, according to what Wojnarowski is hearing (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 12:11pm: The Spurs are the front-runners for LaMarcus Aldridge as they meet today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, and some executives around the league are starting to think that the All-Star will sign with San Antonio, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). The Lakers didn’t make a strong impression on Aldridge in their meeting overnight, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com heard that it went “really well,” as we passed along earlier. Kobe Bryant told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he also believed the meeting went well, but the Lakers star came away without a firm belief of what the notoriously fickle power forward would do (Twitter link). Aldridge was “engaged” but “noncommittal” in the meeting, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times hears (Twitter link).
San Antonio is meeting today with the client of Arn Tellem and Thaddeus Foucher, and the general feeling around the league is that the team’s deal with Danny Green and trade agreement that sends out Tiago Splitter and his salary are positives for the team’s pursuit of Aldridge, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). The Blazers are apparently unlikely to sign-and-trade Aldridge, so clearing cap room is key.
The Rockets, Suns, Mavericks, Raptors and Knicks are also on Aldridge’s list of meetings, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported. Aldridge’s meeting with Houston has apparently already happened, with the Rockets still seemingly unlikely to reel him in, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Knicks Front-Runners For Arron Afflalo
WEDNESDAY, 4:24pm: The Knicks and Afflalo have a meeting scheduled for Thursday, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News tweets.
TUESDAY, 12:28pm: Afflalo is open to signing a short-term deal that allows him to become a free agent again in a year or two, and he may ultimately seek such an arrangement, tweets Chris Mannix of SI.com.
MONDAY, 2:03pm: The Knicks are the front-runners for Arron Afflalo, who opted out of his deal with the Blazers last week, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The same is true of the Knicks and Greg Monroe, though New York will take meetings with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and others. Carmelo Anthony has put in a recruiting call to Afflalo and others, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported minutes earlier.
League sources who spoke with Wojnarowski estimate that Afflalo’s next deal will be for $36-38MM over three years. The Knicks have only about $31MM in guaranteed salaries for next season, not counting a $3,443,100 cap hold for Kristaps Porzingis and a $1,310,300 cap hold for Jerian Grant, the two players New York wound up with from the first round of Friday’s draft. That, combined with minimum-salary roster charges for open spots, would still likely leave about enough room against the cap, projected at $67.1MM, for a max deal for Monroe and a contract for Afflalo starting around $12MM a year.
Latest On Rockets, Sergio Llull
JULY 1ST, 4:20pm: Llull has decided against joining the Rockets and will stay with Real Madrid, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link).
JUNE 22ND, 9:20am: The Rockets are willing to pay the equivalent of nearly $24MM over three years to draft-and-stash point guard Sergio Llull, according to Jose Luis Martinez of Marca.com (translation via HoopsHype). Martinez cites a figure of 21 million euros, equivalent to almost $23.875MM at the current exchange rate. Such a deal would require the Rockets to open cap space, and it couldn’t become official until after the July Moratorium, since the signing of a former second-round pick like Llull, the 34th pick in the 2009 draft, can’t take place between the end of the regular season and July. The 27-year-old is nonetheless close to a decision on playing for Houston, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops.net, after having picked the brain of current Rockets point guard and former teammate Pablo Prigioni during a meeting last month, as Javier Maestro of Encestando.es writes (translation via HoopsHype).
Still, the fact that Rockets GM Daryl Morey quickly denied a report from March that the Rockets were willing to give Llull $17MM over three years lends some skepticism to the latest report. Llull recently brushed off renewed talk about a Houston deal, citing his contentment with Spain’s Real Madrid and his contract with the team that runs all the way until 2019, as Mark Porcaro shows in the Hoops Rumors Draft Rights Held Players Database. His buyout costs 5 million euros, Martinez writes, or the equivalent of $5.681MM, and with the NBA’s Excluded International Player Payment capped at $625K for next season, Llull would have to foot much of that bill himself. Rockets coach Kevin McHale nonetheless said recently that Houston would love to sign him. Varlas reported earlier this month, after McHale’s comments, that the Rockets were willing to pay the point guard $15-18MM over three years.
The Rockets have about $54.6MM in guaranteed salary tied up for next season, and they’ve expressed interest in re-signing many of their free agents. So, it’ll be a tight squeeze to fit such a lucrative deal for Llull under the projected $67.1MM cap unless Houston makes salary-clearing trades. Llull, a mainstay of the powerful Spanish national team, averaged 11.2 points, 4.4 assists and 1.0 turnovers in 26.2 minutes per game for Real Madrid this season.
Blazers Dream Of Aldridge, Greg Monroe Pairing
The Blazers’ top goal is to sign both LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe, The Oregonian’s Jason Quick reports (Twitter link). Conflicting reports paint a confused picture of whether Portland still has a realistic shot to land Aldridge, but Monroe has the Blazers on a list of four teams with which he plans to meet.
Portland has about $24.9MM in guaranteed salaries on its books, not counting whatever Al-Farouq Aminu would make on his new four-year $30MM deal. A max deal for Aldridge would start at an estimated $18.96MM and a max for Monroe would begin at an estimated $15.8MM, though those figures stand to rise with a new, higher salary cap projection. Assuming those maxes don’t grow too much higher, it would leave just about enough to squeeze in Aminu’s deal, though the Blazers only have seven players on their roster at present, so they would be hit with about $2MM in roster charges plus Aminu’s salary for next season. So, it’s likely the Blazers would either have to clear some salary via trade, buyout, or release via the stretch provision.
In any case, it seems like a long shot, but it does appear to indicate that Monroe is the team’s primary target aside from Aldridge.
Warriors, Draymond Green Cease Talks
3:34pm: It’s “just a gap” between the Warriors and Green, a source who spoke with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com said, adding that talks are going neither well nor poorly (Twitter link).
2:19pm: The Warriors and Draymond Green have broken off discussions with the restricted free agent poised to shop himself to other teams, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Wasserman Media Group client is now poised to shop himself to other teams, though Golden State can still match.
Offers made to DeMarre Carroll, Khris Middleton and Paul Millsap have surprised the Warriors, as the market has been surprisingly robust for forwards like Green, as Spears details. At least five teams, including the previously reported Pistons, Hawks and Rockets, have interest, according to Spears.
Celtics, Jae Crowder Make Progress In Talks
Jae Crowder is progressing in discussions about a deal to re-sign with the Celtics, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Charania tweeted earlier that the Mavericks, who dealt Crowder to Boston in December, and Celtics were front-runners for the Glenn Schwartzman client.
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge made it clear this spring that he wanted to re-sign the former 34th overall pick. Crowder has hoped to return, but not before testing the market.
Cavs Mull Trade Proposals For Brendan Haywood
WEDNESDAY, 1:53pm: Several options for trading Haywood are now on the table for the Cavs, Windhorst reports (Twitter link).
3:53pm: Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal hears talks regarding Haywood between the two teams haven’t taken place (Twitter link).
2:59pm: The Cavs are looking for a scoring point guard, Monroe hears, seemingly somewhat different from the facilitator that Windhorst reported Cleveland was seeking.
TUESDAY, 2:07pm: The Spurs and Cavs are talking about trade ideas involving Brendan Haywood and his uniquely valuable non-guaranteed contract, a league source tells Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). GM David Griffin has more or less confirmed the team is shopping Haywood, who allows Cleveland to take on an eight-figure salary in return while giving the team that acquires him the chance to clear cap room. That could be key for the Spurs in their quest to sign LaMarcus Aldridge or another marquee free agent while keeping their core intact.
San Antonio was confident about its chances to re-sign Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard and still ink Aldridge or another max-level free agent, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com wrote. The Spurs are reportedly making Tiago Splitter available for a trade, but dealing him away isn’t a necessity for San Antonio to achieve its goals, Stein also wrote.
Cleveland has appeared to be shooting relatively low as it looks for taker. The Cavs want a facilitating guard who can either back up or play alongside Kyrie Irving, as Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com wrote earlier this month. Still, Haywood’s contract, a quirk of the amnesty clause, could net the Cavs as much as $15,522,500 in incoming salary, though that figure would be tricky, the Cleveland poised to exceed the tax threshold. Even if they’re over the tax line, the Cavs could still bring in as much as $13,253,125.