Jazz, Kendrick Perkins Agree To Buyout Deal
3:53pm: Perkins has officially been waived, the Jazz announced.
3:27pm: A buyout arrangement has been reached, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Perkins intends to sign with the Cavaliers if he clears waivers, which he is expected to do, Wojnarowski adds.
1:48pm: Perkins has narrowed his choices to the Cavs and the Clippers, and the big man is expected to make his decision on Sunday, Chris Haynes of The Northeast Ohio Media Group reports (Twitter link).
10:51am: The Clippers are not out of the running for Perkins, but are considered long shots to sign him, Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 10:28am: The Cavaliers have emerged as the frontrunners to sign Perkins if he is indeed waived by Utah, Wojnarowski reports. The Bulls, Rockets, and Hawks are also in the mix for the big man, Jason Lloyd of The Akron Beacon Journal tweets.
FRIDAY, 9:24am: Perkins is interested in playing for the Mavs, Wojnarowski writes, but the team doesn’t share that interest, as Cuban said (below). Conflict in the past with Joakim Noah wouldn’t keep Perkins from joining the Bulls, a source tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.
11:25pm: Mark Cuban said that Dallas is set in its frontcourt, and that the Mavs would not be interested in Perkins if he is waived, Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman tweets.
10:18pm: The Bulls and the Cavs are the frontrunners to sign Perkins when and if he clears waivers, David Aldridge of NBA.com reports (Twitter link).
6:08pm: The Mavericks have also expressed interest in Perkins, should he be waived, Wojnarowski tweets.
THURSDAY, 3:55pm: The Jazz and Kendrick Perkins are headed for a buyout, reports Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Utah agreed to take on his expiring contract, worth more than $9.654MM, as part of a three-way deal with the Pistons and Thunder. The Cavs and Clippers are teams to watch should Perkins indeed hit free agency in the coming days, Young says, and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports calls those teams strong contenders to sign him (on Twitter). The Bulls will be very much in the mix for Perkins, too, Wojnarowski also tweets.
The 30-year-old Perkins is making $9.654MM this season on an expiring contract, and it’s not immediately clear how much he would give up in a buyout. He was much-maligned throughout his tenure in Oklahoma City after having been hailed as key to the Celtics’ 2008 championship and subsequent run to the Finals in 2010. He had a PER of 15.0 in 2009/10, but he never had a double-digit PER for the Thunder after a trade sent him there in the middle of the 2010/11 season.
His name was part of a proposal that would have sent him to the Nets for Brook Lopez, but that trade didn’t pan out. In any case, he’s an odd fit for Utah, a team focused on the future, so a quick parting of ways makes sense. The Jazz will have to waive him no later than March 1st for him to be eligible to play for another team in the postseason.
Chris Bosh Out For The Season
SATURDAY, 3:39pm: Bosh is officially out for the remainder of the season, the Heat announced in a press release. The team’s statement added, “Bosh, who is receiving care under the guidance of Miami Heat team physicians at a Baptist Health System Hospital, is currently resting comfortably. Chris is OK and his prognosis is good.”
5:08pm: The Heat are expected to announce that Bosh’s season is over, Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald reports (Twitter link). However, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra has stated that no decision regarding Bosh has been made yet, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post tweets. “We’re still in the info collecting process. Anything right now is premature. We’ll know more as soon as we can,” Spoelstra said.
12:46pm: Bosh has blood clots in both lungs, Zwerling hears (Twitter link).
11:49am: Heat coach Erik Spoelstra cautioned that while the team is concerned, Bosh’s diagnosis isn’t final, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt relays.
9:49am: Bosh has a blood clot in one lung, according to Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link). Heat team president Pat Riley understands that Bosh’s condition typically sidelines players for the season, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, who wrote earlier that it’s “difficult to envision” Bosh playing again this season.
FRIDAY, 8:19am: The Heat are worried that Chris Bosh has multiple blood clots on his lungs that would force him to miss the rest of the season, reports Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald. Initial tests proved inclusive after Bosh was admitted to a Miami-area hospital Thursday, according to Goodman. The treatment for pulmonary embolus, or multiple clots, would involve blood thinners, which could keep the Heat’s star out for even longer than the balance of 2014/15, Goodman writes. The condition appears to have come on rather quickly for Bosh, who played just this past Sunday in the All-Star Game.
An absence of any significant length would be a devastating blow to the Heat, who are in a dogfight to make the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, and on Thursday they acquired Goran Dragic in part to help that postseason push. The deadline to apply for a disabled player exception passed last month, so Miami couldn’t gain any additional salary flexibility if Bosh were to be ruled out for the season, though the team does already have a disabled player exception worth $2,652,500 for Josh McRoberts. That exception doesn’t expire until March 10th.
The Heat have a pair of open roster spots, though they’re reportedly set to sign Henry Walker to a 10-day contract. Center Kendrick Perkins seems headed for a buyout from the Jazz, while the Nuggets and Thomas Robinson have apparently already agreed to one, and the Heat reportedly showed interest in free agent Andray Blatche earlier this season. It’s unclear if Miami would pursue any of them at this point, and none would come close to the production of Bosh, who’s averaged 21.1 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Bosh, 30, is making $20.644MM in the first year of a five-year max contract. One NBA player is already being forced to miss the rest of this season with multiple blood clots in his lungs, as the condition struck Nets forward Mirza Teletovic last month.
Heat Sign Henry Walker To 10-Day Deal
SATURDAY, 3:37pm: The deal is official, the Heat announced.
FRIDAY, 7:54am: The Heat will sign swingman Henry Walker to a 10-day contract, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). Walker is a four-year NBA veteran who went by the name Bill Walker when he played for the Celtics and Knicks between 2008/09 and 2011/12. He’s been with the Heat’s affiliate in the D-League this season.
Walker was part of the rotation for the Knicks in 2011/12, when he saw his last NBA action, averaging 5.8 points in 19.4 minutes per game across 32 appearances that year. He was an 11.9 PPG scorer in 27.4 MPG in 27 contests for the Knicks in the second half of the 2009/10 season. The now 27-year-old has spent part of each of the last three seasons in the D-League, with a short stint in Venezuela thrown in. He’s been on a shooting tear of late, nailing 44.8% of his three-point attempts in 17 D-League contests this season, as Pick points out.
Miami has a pair of open roster spots after Thursday’s three-way trade with the Suns and Pelicans that brought the Dragic brothers to town. The Heat signed Tyler Johnson to a two-year deal after inking him to a pair of 10-day contracts earlier this season, so surely Walker, a Mike Naiditch client, will hope for the same.
Suns Sign Earl Barron To 10-Day Deal
SATURDAY, 2:02pm: The deal is official, the Suns announced.
FRIDAY, 3:35pm: The Suns will sign eight-year veteran center Earl Barron to a 10-day contract, as league sources tell Shams Charania of RealGM and as agent Andre Buck confirms to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Barron, who was on the Suns roster during the preseason, had just returned to Phoenix’s D-League affiliate after a brief stint playing in China, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic notes (on Twitter).
Barron, 33, last saw regular season NBA action in 2012/13, when he split a dozen games between the Wizards and Knicks. He spent most of this season with the Suns’ D-League team, racking up 20.3 points and 10.7 rebounds in 32.5 minutes per game. He’s averaged 4.9 PPG and 3.7 RPG in 14.8 MPG over his NBA career.
Phoenix has only 13 players after Thursday’s trio of trades, and only 10 of them are available for tonight’s game, Coro notes (on Twitter). It’s unclear how quickly Barron will be able to suit up. Both Charania and Spears indicate that he’s already put pen to paper, though there’s been no official announcement from the team.
Pistons Sign Quincy Miller To 10-Day Deal
SATURDAY, 11:10am: The signing is official, the Pistons announced in a press release.
THURSDAY, 5:39pm: The Pistons agreed to sign Quincy Miller to a 10-day contract on Saturday, agent Jared Karnes tells Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link). Miller and the Kings had been set to talk after the All-Star break about a deal that would cover the rest of the season, but it appears there’s been a change of plans for the 38th overall pick in the 2012 draft. The Pistons are juggling their roster amid their deal to acquire Reggie Jackson.
The Pacers, Hawks, Spurs, Thunder and Clippers were all reportedly interested in Miller before he joined the Kings on a pair of 10-day deals, and he had a workout set with the Lakers earlier this season. He averaged 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game across six appearances with Sacramento.
Miller put up strong numbers in the D-League with Sacramento’s affiliate earlier this season, averaging 25.3 PPG and 7.6 RPG in 28.9 MPG across 15 appearances. That helped rehabilitate his value after the Nuggets cut him loose at the end of the preseason after failing to find a trade partner.
Pacific Notes: Dragic, Crawford, Karl, McAdoo
Suns president of basketball operations Lon Babby and GM Ryan McDonough had stern words for Goran Dragic following the trade that sent him out of town at his request, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic details. McDonough said of Brandon Knight, whom the Suns acquired in a separate trade, that “We feel like we got the best player in the trade, coming or going,” Coro notes, though that’s conceivably a shot at Dragic nonetheless. Babby said he wasn’t concerned with Dragic’s feelings when he struck deals with Eric Bledsoe and Isaiah Thomas this summer and that, contrary to a report, Dragic hadn’t let the front office know about his feelings about a future with the club, according to Coro. McDonough also said he didn’t receive a list of preferred destinations, which counters another report, and expressed frustration with Dragic’s agents at BDA Sports, Coro writes. There’s more from that piece amid the latest from the Pacific Division:
- Babby called Dragic’s statements about a lack of trust in the front office “unfair and unwarranted,” as Coro notes. McDonough responded to the notion that the Suns had traded their best player, saying “Our response to that, I think, is that Eric Bledsoe and Markieff Morris are still in Phoenix Suns uniforms,” as Coro also observes.
- The Clippers looked into trading for Gerald Green and Perry Jones III but never came close to a deal, reports Dan Woike of The Orange County Register.
- Clippers brass reportedly dangled Jamal Crawford in trade talks, and he seemed glum about it, as Woike adds in the same piece. Crawford, who was reportedly eager to commit to the team in the summer, didn’t jump at the chance to express his those sentiments Thursday, Woike notes. His contract is partially guaranteed next season, the final year of the deal.
- Stamina is an issue surrounding new Kings coach George Karl, but the 63-year-old tells Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com that he’s up for the test, in part because he thinks he might get a chance to rest if there’s a work stoppage in 2017.
- The Warriors have assigned James McAdoo to the D-League, the team announced. McAdoo just re-signed Thursday with Golden State on a deal that includes partially guaranteed salary for next season.
Northwest Notes: Blazers, Afflalo, Jackson
Blazers GM Neil Olshey made it clear that Thursday’s trade for Arron Afflalo was a product of the team’s emphasis on the present, as he told reporters and as The Oregonian’s Joe Freeman transcribes.
“It’s one of the things about our league; you can’t be a development team and a winning team,” Olshey said. “They’re not always independent of one another, but they’re more independent than people would like to admit.”
All five Northwest Division teams made trades Thursday, and that included two deals in which Northwest teams hooked up with each other. We rounded up the latest on the Wolves, the lone team that didn’t make an intradivision trade, earlier today, and now here’s what’s happening in the rest of the division:
- The Nuggets expected that Afflalo would command $9-10MM a year in a new contract this summer, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com, who writes in his Open Floor column. The new Blazers shooting guard has a player option likely worth $7.75MM for next season, up from his base salary of $7.5MM. That’s because playing with Portland means he’ll probably trigger the bonus for making the playoffs that’s part of his contract, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- There were strong feelings in the Nuggets organization that the presence of JaVale McGee negatively influenced a “winning culture,” Mannix also writes in the same piece.
- Reggie Jackson sat out a game at the beginning of the season because he was disappointed the Thunder didn’t trade him, a source tells Royce Young of ESPN.com, who delves into the frayed relationship between Jackson and his now former Thunder teammates.
- The development of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors and the desire for cap flexibility motivated the Jazz’s decision to trade Enes Kanter, not Kanter’s trade request, Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey insists, as Aaron Falk of The Salt Lake Tribune relays.
- Dorell Wright, a free agent at season’s end, would prefer re-signing with the Blazers over a deal with any other NBA team, as he tells Lang Greene of Basketball Insiders.
- There’s a decent chance Tibor Pleiss, the draft-and-stash prospect whom the Jazz acquired Thursday from the Thunder, leaves his Spanish team soon, making him available to sign with Utah, a source indicated to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). Pleiss, a center, is currently under contract through 2016, as our draft rights held database shows.
Wolves Rumors: Garnett, Wiggins, Brown
The Wolves reportedly want to re-sign Kevin Garnett for another two years when his contract expires this summer, and he’s expected to take them up on that, a source told Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. Minnesota insisted on Thaddeus Young instead of a first-round pick in the Kevin Love trade, and after dealing Young for Garnett on Thursday, coach/executive Flip Saunders guaranteed that Garnett will have a greater effect on the Wolves than the first-round pick ever would have, Zgoda tweets. Saunders said he tried to engage the Nets in conversations regarding the Love trade to see if he could acquire Garnett then, but Brooklyn resisted the idea, as Zgoda also relays (on Twitter). There’s more on Garnett amid the latest from Minnesota:
- Wolves owner Glen Taylor acknowledged the return of Garnett as a player bodes well for KG’s chances of becoming a part-owner, notes Andy Greder of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). “It’s just that he’s a player. But I think that opens up that possibility,” Taylor said. Still, there were some hard feelings when Garnett and the Wolves parted ways in 2007, and Taylor and the star haven’t said more than hello since, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press.
- The choice Andrew Wiggins made not to sign with Klutch Sports, the agency that represents LeBron James, played a key factor in the Cavs’ decision to put him in the Love trade, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com said on SiriusXM NBA Radio (Twitter link). Wiggins is a Bill Duffy client.
- The two-year deal that Lorenzo Brown signed with the Wolves on Thursday is a minimum-salary affair that’s non-guaranteed for next season, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter).
Lakers Remain Free Agent Contender For Dragic
12:22pm: The Heat were believed to be the No. 1 team on the list of preferred destinations that agent Bill Duffy reportedly gave the Suns before the trade, according to Chris Mannix of SI.com.
10:12am: New Heat trade acquisition Goran Dragic views the Lakers as a “perfect fit” and would love the opportunity to join the team in free agency this summer, a source with knowledge of Dragic’s thinking told Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Still, the point guard will probably re-sign with the Heat this summer, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News heard Thursday, and the expectation is that the Heat will make a five-year max offer, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com also reported Thursday.
Miami’s ability to offer that fifth year gives the team a financial edge on the other 29 clubs who are limited to offers of no more than four seasons, though USA Today’s Sam Amick heard before the trade that the fifth year wouldn’t hold sway over his decision on where to sign. The Heat also have the ability to offer more money through 7.5% raises instead of the 4.5% raises to which the Lakers and other teams are limited. Dragic has a $7.5MM player option for next season, but he’s said he plans to turn it down.
The Lakers made a hard push to trade for Dragic in advance of Thursday’s deadline, as Medina confirms. The team has reportedly been eyeing him for months for free agency as well as a trade, and Dragic has said it would be “cool to play with” Kobe Bryant. Still, Rade Filipovich, one of Dragic’s agents, told Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that there’s no question Dragic will like playing with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, and Filipovich also praised Heat team president Pat Riley and coach Erik Spoelstra.
“It’s a great fit,” Filipovich said of the Heat. “Goran and Wade to bring the ball up, create offense, very good shooters –– very interesting team. A playoff team. He feels lucky he ended up in Miami. He’s very happy.”
Recap Of Deadline Trades
More than half the teams in the league took part in a whirlwind NBA trade deadline Thursday. A dozen trades involving 39 players and 17 teams took place. Eight teams made multiple trades, while Sixers GM Sam Hinkie and Suns GM Ryan McDonough were busiest, each pulling off three swaps. It brings to a close one of the busiest seasons for trades in memory, with 25 deals going down between the beginning of the regular season and the deadline.
The Heat’s trade for Goran Dragic, a three-team affair with the Suns and Pelicans, involved perhaps the most significant player who changed hands, though it has plenty of competition for that distinction. Detroit’s acquisition of Reggie Jackson and the three-team swap that saw Brandon Knight head to the Suns and Michael Carter-Williams go to the Bucks were landmark deals, too. Sentimentality, if nothing else, makes Minnesota’s trade for Kevin Garnett, who began his NBA career with the Timberwolves 20 years ago, another particularly noteworthy move.
Here’s a look at each trade that took place on deadline day:
- The Heat get Goran Dragic and Zoran Dragic.
- The Pelicans get Norris Cole, Shawne Williams, Justin Hamilton and $369K cash (from Miami).
- The Suns get John Salmons, Danny Granger, Miami’s 2017 first-round pick (top seven protected), Miami’s unprotected 2021 first-round pick, and $2.2MM cash (from Miami). Salmons was waived as part of the deal.
- The Pistons get Reggie Jackson.
- The Thunder get Enes Kanter, Steve Novak, D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler and Detroit’s 2019 second-round pick.
- The Jazz get Kendrick Perkins, Grant Jerrett, the rights to Tibor Pleiss, Oklahoma City’s 2017 first-round pick (top-14 protected) and Detroit’s 2017 second-round pick.
- The Suns get Brandon Knight and Kendall Marshall. Marshall was waived as part of the deal.
- The Bucks get Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis and Miles Plumlee.
- The Sixers get the Lakers’ 2015 first-round pick (top-five protected).
- The Timberwolves get Kevin Garnett.
- The Nets get Thaddeus Young.
- The Trail Blazers get Arron Afflalo and Alonzo Gee.
- The Nuggets get Will Barton, Victor Claver, Thomas Robinson, and a 2016 first-round pick (top-14 protected).
- The Celtics get Isaiah Thomas.
- The Suns get Marcus Thornton and Cleveland’s 2016 first-round pick (top-10 protected).
- The Rockets get K.J. McDaniels.
- The Sixers get Isaiah Canaan and the less favorable of Minnesota’s and Denver’s 2015 second-round picks.
- The Sixers get JaVale McGee, the rights to Chu Chu Maduabum and Oklahoma City’s 2015 first-round pick (top-18 protected).
- The Nuggets get Cenk Akyol.
- The Pistons get Tayshaun Prince.
- The Celtics get Gigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko.
- The Wizards get Ramon Sessions.
- The Kings get Andre Miller and $839K cash.
- The Rockets get Pablo Prigioni.
- The Knicks get Alexey Shved, Houston’s 2017 second-round pick and Houston’s 2019 second-round pick.
- The Pelicans get Ish Smith, the rights to Latavious Williams, Philadelphia’s 2015 second-round pick (top-55 protected) and $801K cash. Smith was subsequently waived.
- The Thunder get the less favorable of Sacramento’s 2016 second-round pick (top-55 protected) and New Orleans’ 2016 second-round pick.