Cavs, Pelicans Close To Alonzo Gee Deal
2:48pm: The Cavaliers have other means to acquire Haywood from the Hornets as planned, and it’s also possible that Gee winds up in the Pelicans’ deal with the Rockets for Asik, according to Stein (Twitter links).
2:13pm: The Cavs and Pelicans are close to a deal that would send Alonzo Gee to the Pelicans, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein casts it as part of an effort from Cleveland to clear max cap room for LeBron James, but it was believed that Cleveland already had max cap room for James, and that the Cavs had agreed to a deal that would send Gee to the Hornets. Additionally, sending Gee away wouldn’t create any extra cap flexibility, because his $3MM is non-guaranteed. Gee indeed isn’t part of the Haywood deal, Stein adds (Twitter link).
Gee makes sense as an acquisition for the Pelicans, who are also trying to clear cap room to facilitate their deal to acquire Omer Asik from the Rockets. Ostensibly, it seems they would be sending salary to Cleveland, so perhaps the Cavs are in other talks to clear salary, though that’s just my speculation.
New Orleans has reportedly considered waiving former No. 10 overall pick Austin Rivers to make room for Asik, but if the Pelicans acquire Gee and give up salary, they might be able to create the requisite cap room by waiving Gee instead.
Rockets, Lakers Close To Jeremy Lin Deal
1:53pm: The Lakers would send cash and the rights to a draft-and-stash prospect playing overseas, but no salary, to Houston, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
1:50pm: A future first-round pick and other draft considerations would accompany Lin from the Rockets to the Lakers as part of the deal the teams are nearing, Wojnarowski adds (on Twitter).
1:40pm: The Rockets and Lakers are finalizing a deal that would send Lin to the Lakers, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
12:54pm: The Rockets are attempting to trade Jeremy Lin to the Lakers, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). A report earlier this week indicated that Houston had a deal in place to send Lin to the Sixers, though Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News wrote earlier today that the sides were merely discussing such a deal. Houston is trying to get rid of Lin’s salary in an effort to clear cap room for Chris Bosh, whom the Rockets believe will commit to them soon.
The Lakers missed out on LeBron James, and it seems as though Carmelo Anthony has narrowed his choices to the Knicks and Bulls, so that might motivate the Lakers to take on Lin’s expiring contract and concentrate instead on next summer’s free agent market. Lin’s cap hit for the coming season will be close to $8.4MM, but because of his backloaded deal signed via the Gilbert Arenas Provision, he’ll make close to $15MM in actual salary.
Cavs Pursuing Kevin Love
12:33pm: Multiple executives from around the league indicated to Ken Berger of CBSSports that Wiggins would be in play in a Cavs trade for Love, which runs counter to earlier reports (Twitter link).
FRIDAY, 8:09am: Belief that the Cavs wouldn’t part with Wiggins in a trade for Love continues to grow, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities, and a Cavs source told Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio on Thursday that Wiggins is untouchable (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 5:07pm: Rival executives tell Chris Mannix of SI.com that the Wolves are giving no indication that they are in a rush to make a deal with Cleveland (Twitter link).
4:24pm: Wiggins would have to be part of any deal for Love, Krawczynski tweets.
4:01pm: The Cavs are indeed pursuing a trade for Love contingent on their ability to sign James, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
1:24pm: The Cavs spoke to agent Rich Paul, the representative for LeBron James, about trade scenarios that would allow Cleveland to acquire Kevin Love, report Sam Amico and Zac Jackson of Fox Sports Ohio. Cavs officials told Paul that engineering such a trade wouldn’t be easy, a source tells Amico and Jackson, and the source added that Cleveland is reluctant to include Andrew Wiggins in a Love trade. Wiggins’ camp doesn’t believe the Cavs are considering trading him, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link).
Cleveland and Minnesota have reportedly engaged in exploratory discussions regarding Love, but those apparently came to an end when the Cavs learned that Love, who can hit free agency next year, wouldn’t re-sign with them. That would change if the Cavs can sign James, as Love is “100%” on board with the idea of staying in Cleveland long-term to play with the four-time MVP, as ESPN’s Chris Broussard reported late last month.
There’s plenty of competition for Love, and Wolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders seems in no rush to deal his star power forward, even though it’s clear he wants to leave Minnesota. It’s indeed difficult to imagine Saunders giving the OK to deal with Cleveland that didn’t include Wiggins, as Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press observes (on Twitter), but the Cavs aren’t without other intriguing trade assets, one of which I explained Tuesday.
Pacers Sign C.J. Miles
JULY 11TH: The Pacers formally announced the signing via press release, making it official.
“We’re very glad to have C.J. and he really wanted to be here,” president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “He brings versatility to the small forward and shooting guard positions. He’s a great shooter and scorer. We think he’ll fit nicely with the culture of our team.”
JULY 2ND: The Pacers have reached agreement with C.J. Miles on a multiyear deal, reports Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). It’s a four-year, $18MM pact, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Wojnarowski wrote earlier that the Pacers envisioned using part of their $5.03MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception on Miles after committing a portion of it to Spanish league sharpshooter Damjan Rudez.
The Adrian Clark client and Pacers officials had been set to meet Tuesday as Indiana’s interest became clear. The Pacers moved quickly on the former Cavalier, and have been the league’s most active team in free agency so far, coming to terms with Rudez as well as the undrafted Shayne Whittington. The movement comes after news of an impasse between the club and Lance Stephenson, and money for Stephenson beneath the tax line for Indiana is quickly drying up. The team also reportedly has interest in Rodney Stuckey.
Miles, 27, averaged 9.9 points and 39.3% three-point shooting in 19.3 minutes per game for Cleveland this past season, starting 34 contests. The deal with Indiana is the most lucrative of his nine-year NBA career, as he topped out at $3.7MM annually with the Jazz, according to Basketball-Reference.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Pacers Sign Damjan Rudez
JULY 11TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“Damjan is one of the best shooters in Europe,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said. “With his size and knowledge, he can play two positions for us. He has experience, maturity and really knows how to play. He had a number of options, he chose us and we’re thrilled he did. We look forward to having him in a Pacer uniform.”
JULY 2ND: 2:43pm: Rudez will make $1.1MM next season, multiple sources tell Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter links). That together with the team’s other deals puts the Pacers about $5MM below the projected luxury tax line, Lowe estimates.
11:08am: Deeks confirms Scola’s salary is now roughly 50% guaranteed for this season, though the precise guarantee remains unclear (Twitter link).
10:27am: The move will not affect Scola’s status, as he remains in the team’s plans, a source tells Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). Buckner cites Scola as having a $2.5MM partial guarantee, and while Mark Deeks of ShamSports lists that guarantee at $940,946, he adds that it’s subject to increase via bonus clauses. It’s not clear whether those bonuses have taken effect, but Buckner seems to suggest they have.
9:47am: The Pacers have reached agreement on a three-year deal with Spanish league power forward Damjan Rudez, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Rudez will receive a portion of the club’s $5.305MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception, while the team hopes to use the rest of it on C.J. Miles as it pursues the Cavs swingman, according to Wojnarowski.
Indiana was among several teams reportedly interested in the 27-year-old Rudez as of last month. The Raptors, Jazz and Cavs were also in the mix, and Cleveland was apparently working toward a deal with him. He put on quite a shooting display and felt comfortable at a Cleveland mini-camp recently, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. Rudez, variously listed at 6’8″ and 6’10”, was only a part-time starter for CAI Zaragoza this past season, but his 47.3% three-point shooting on 4.1 attempts per game is surely what had teams so excited.
The timing of the deal is curious considering the report from earlier this morning that talks with Lance Stephenson had struck an impasse. Indiana has limited flexibility beneath the projected $77MM tax line, one which the franchise has made a point of not crossing. The addition of another power forward with such tight finances might spell the end of Luis Scola‘s time in Indiana, since his salary of more than $4.868MM is only guaranteed for less than $1MM.
LeBron James Rumors: Friday
As agent Rich Paul pushes for the return of LeBron James to the Cavs, Cleveland executives were told to clear max cap room for him, writes Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The execs pressured their counterparts with the Celtics and Nets to finish the final paperwork on this week’s three-team trade, Wojnarowski reports. The Cavs believed they had to get that cap room open as quickly as possible Thursday, and they started calling the agents of players who would serve as role players on a contending team, as Wojnarowski hears. They operated with the belief that James would be coming, as the Yahoo! scribe chronicles, pointing out that yet they hadn’t received confirmation from James himself. While the Cavs, Heat, and most of the rest of the league simmer at a virtual standstill awaiting this year’s version of The Decision, here’s the latest on the No. 1 player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings:
- Wade is still unsure of which team James will sign with after riding with James on a flight from Las Vegas to Miami within the past several hours, Wojnarowski tweets.
Earlier updates:
- One executive called described Paul’s meetings with teams last week as a waste of time, Wojnarowski notes in the same piece linked at the top of this post.
- James left Wednesday’s meeting with Heat president Pat Riley and GM Andy Elisburg unconvinced, but James and Heat teammate Dwyane Wade have been spending time together over the last day or so, as Wojnarowski details.
- A source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com that one of the reasons that James remains undecided is that he’s still stung by the infamous comic sans letter that Cavs owner Dan Gilbert wrote in response to James’ departure for Miami in 2010. The idea that the letter is a sticking point in any return to the Cavs would be news to the Cleveland organization, which has never received any such indication, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
Magic Sign Ben Gordon
JULY 11TH: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
“Ben brings valuable experience to our team,” GM Rob Hennigan said in the team’s statement. “His competitiveness and ability to score and stretch the floor adds versatility to our backcourt and overall roster. We are excited to welcome Ben to the Orlando Magic family.”
JULY 2ND: The Magic and Ben Gordon have struck a deal on a two-year, $9MM arrangement, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The second year is a team option, according to TNT’s David Aldridge (Twitter link). That’s a shocking amount for the shooting guard who ended last season out of the league after Charlotte waived him in March.
Orlando has made several cap clearing moves in recent days, but it’s nonetheless odd to see the team lob such a high-dollar offer Gordon’s way. There are no real teeth to the NBA’s minimum team salary rules, since the penalty for not reaching that amount holds that a team simply must distribute the difference between its team salary and the salary floor among its players.
The deal is a coup for agent Raymond Brothers. The Bulls, Clippers, Rockets and Thunder reportedly had interest in Gordon when he and the Bobcats were working on their buyout, but Charlotte wound up waiving him one day too late for him to participate in the playoffs with another team, an oddly timed move. Gordon was apparently reluctant to sign with some of those interested teams anyway, since they were dangling two-year deals that would have prevented him from hitting free agency this summer. As it turns out, that reluctance was wise.
Gordon, 31, played in just 19 games this past season, averaging career lows in points per game (5.2), minutes per game (14.7), and three-point shooting (27.6%), among a host of other categories. Once a feared sixth man, the Pistons dealt him to Charlotte in a 2012 deal that ultimately cost them the No. 9 overall pick this year to rid themselves of the last two years of his five-year, $58MM contract.
2014 Amnesty Primer
Now that the July moratorium is over, the seven-day window for teams to use the amnesty provision has begun. The collective bargaining agreement’s amnesty clause comes up in rumors almost year-round, but teams only have seven days to use it. This year’s amnesty period started Thursday and runs through this coming Wednesday. Here’s a look at how the process works, which teams are still have the amnesty at their disposal, and which players remain amnesty-eligible:
How does it work?
The amnesty provision allows a team to clear an especially player-friendly contract from its books. The team must still pay the player the remainder of the salary on his deal, but it doesn’t count against the salary cap or toward luxury tax calculations. A team may only amnesty one player for the length of the collective bargaining agreement — not one player per season. The provision only applies to players who were on the roster of the same team they’re on now, under the same contract, on July 1st, 2011. Teams may not amnesty players who’ve been traded or who have signed new contracts or extensions since that date.
What happens when to a player once his team uses the amnesty provision on him?
When a team uses the amnesty provision, the player is placed on waivers. The waiver rules are slightly different, however. Teams can place claims for the full amount of the player’s contract, as usual, but they can also submit claims for a partial amount, a feature unique to amnesty waivers. That can turn the process into an auction of sorts, since the rights to the player go to the team that submits a claim for the largest portion of the player’s contract. If multiple teams bid for the full amount, or for the same partial amount, the team with the worst record last season gets the player. In the case of a successful partial waiver claim, the new team is responsible for the amount of the bid, and that money counts against the cap. The previous team is responsible for the rest, but, as we explained above, the money doesn’t count against the cap. The new team has discretion over any non-guaranteed salary in the contract, and that can lead to odd scenarios, as I explained.
For a few more details on the amnesty process, check out our complete explanation in the Hoops Rumors glossary.
Which teams still have the amnesty provision available, and which players are still eligible to be amnestied?
More than half of the league’s 30 teams have already used the amnesty provision, while others have no amnesty-eligible players remaining on their rosters. That leaves a select group of clubs that retain the power of amnesty. There’s a total of just nine players who can be amnestied, and realistically, only Carlos Boozer, Kendrick Perkins and perhaps Nick Collison seem like realistic candidates. Here’s the complete list:
- Hawks: Al Horford
- Celtics: Rajon Rondo
- Bulls: Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer
- Grizzlies: Mike Conley
- Thunder: Kevin Durant, Kendrick Perkins, Nick Collison
- Spurs: Tony Parker
To keep up with how teams use the amnesty clause this week and for a glance at how they’ve used it in years past, bookmark our Amnesty Provision Tracker.
Hawks Waive John Salmons
FRIDAY, 7:53am: The Hawks have indeed waived Salmons, the team announced via press release. The release states that the team officially made the move Thursday, so the guaranteed portion of Salmons’ salary remains only $1MM.
THURSDAY, 1:49pm: Atlanta continues to explore its options regarding Salmons, Vivlamore writes in an updated version of his story, noting on Twitter that the possibility of trading Salmons still exists.
1:36pm: The Hawks will waive John Salmons by the end of today, a source tells Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Today’s the last day the Hawks can waive him before his $1MM partially guaranteed salary becomes fully guaranteed for $7MM, as our schedule of contract guarantee dates shows.
The Joel Bell client agreed to delay that date from July 1st before the trade that sent him from the Raptors to the Hawks became official, and while that seemingly gave Atlanta a window to see if it could flip the 34-year-old swingman, it appears no such swap is in the works. Salmons will almost assuredly clear waivers and become a free agent in two days, and while he no longer boasts a double-digit scoring average, as he did for four straight seasons earlier in his career, he remained a part of the rotations in Sacramento and Toronto this past season, splitting the year between both the Kings and Raptors. He averaged 5.2 points and shot 38.7% from three-point range in 22.1 minutes per game overall in 2013/14.
The move will free up cap flexibility for the Hawks, who’ve pursued Luol Deng, among others, so far this month. It’s flexibility that Atlanta’s likely been planning for all along, since they weren’t expected to keep Salmons from the moment they acquired him.
Celtics Sign Marcus Smart
JULY 10TH: The Celtics have made the signing of Smart official in a team release. Whether he received the full 120% rookie scale salary has yet to be revealed, but presumably that’s the case.
JULY 8TH: The signing took place three days ago, according to Deeks, who adds that an official announcement might not ever take place. The Bulls made no announcement when they signed Derrick Rose to his rookie deal, as Deeks points out (Twitter links).
7:49am: The Celtics have signed Marcus Smart, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. There’s been no public announcement from the team, but Smart has been playing in summer league for the club. As the No. 6 pick from this year’s draft, he’ll likely receive a salary worth slightly more than $3.283MM this year, as our chart of salaries for first-round picks shows.
The 6’3″ Smart finally joins the NBA after a surprising decision to sit out the 2013 draft and return for his sophomore season at Oklahoma State. An incident in which he shoved a fan during a game caused a stir, but it didn’t seem to have much of an effect on his draft stock, as he was only the second point guard to come off the board. The Celtics already have Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley in the backcourt, but president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has expressed confidence that Smart can co-exist on the floor with both of them.
Smart, 20, averaged 18.0 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists in 32.7 minutes per game this past season. He drained just 29.9% of his three-point attempts, prompting Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors, who examined Smart’s Prospect Profile, to point to the improvement of his outside shooting as a key bellwether for his career.