Latest On Luol Deng
The Hawks were reportedly mulling a run at Luol Deng as of last week, and it looks like they’ve indeed moved forward with a pursuit, as coach Mike Budenholzer was set to meet Thursday with the 29-year-old forward, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Amick also adds the Rockets to the list of suitors for the client of Herb Rudoy and Ronald Shade.
Deng is seeking $12MM salaries, roughly the same amount of space Atlanta has beneath the cap, Amick writes. Atlanta’s deal with Thabo Sefolosha has apparently boosted the team’s stock with Deng, who has a close relationship with his former Bulls teammate, and Deng is also friends with Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, another former sidekick in Chicago, Amick notes.
Reports on Thursday indicated that the Clippers and Deng had mutual interest and that the 10-year veteran would speak Thursday with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, who’s searching for sign-and-trade scenarios to upgrade his capped-out roster. Still, it looks like Rivers is demanding too much for Cleveland’s liking for the Cavs to go along with a sign-and-trade involving Deng, Amick says.
Deng is unlikely to make his decision before Carmelo Anthony does, according to Amick, and the Rockets in particular would be inclined to wait as they hold out hope of signing ‘Melo. The Heat, Wizards, Mavs, Suns, Bulls have all been reported to have interest in Deng since the start of free agency, but while Shade has said his client would welcome a chance to re-sign with Chicago, Amick deems the idea of Deng reuniting with the Bulls as a long shot. Washington would only remain in the market for Deng if they can’t come to terms with Trevor Ariza, Amick also says.
Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Thursday
Carmelo Anthony is doubling up on meetings again after visiting the Rockets and Mavs on Wednesday. He’s seeing both the Lakers and the Knicks today in Los Angeles. We’ll round up the latest ‘Melo updates here:
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) gets the sense that the Rockets are fully focused on Carmelo and are merely on the outskirts of the LeBron James chase, as much as they’d like to be a factor there.
- The Knicks have concluded their free agent meeting with Anthony, and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link) is reporting that as expected, the team offered Anthony the maximum five-year, $129MM deal that he was eligible to receive.
- Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link) confirms the Knicks offer as well as the earlier report that the Lakers offered Anthony a four-year, $96MM deal.
- Broussard also tweets that Anthony did not give the Knicks an answer or a timetable tonight. He will take the holiday weekend to think things through.
Earlier updates:
- Anthony has been pursuing a conversation with Pau Gasol about playing together on the Knicks, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The time of today’s meeting with the Lakers was changed, and it might conclude before Kobe Bryant can arrive back in town to be in attendance, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). He’s going to try to meet with Anthony later, Shelburne adds.
- People around Anthony believe he plans on making up his mind this weekend as he spends time at his home in Los Angeles, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Knicks owner James Dolan won’t be present for today’s meeting, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Team president Phil Jackson, coach Derek Fisher and GM Steve Mills are instead all flying in.
- Rival suitors appear to be increasingly pessimistic about their chances of prying ‘Melo from the Knicks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. But the Lakers, for their part, weren’t short on confidence going into today’s meeting, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes.
- Though the Bulls reportedly floated the idea of a $16MM annual salary for ‘Melo, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune says they didn’t discuss financials much, if at all, with the Bulls instead generally communicating that they’d secure the necessary cap flexibility (Twitter link).
- The Bulls see the Knicks as their only real competition for Anthony, and they’re selling Gasol on the idea that they could sign both him and Anthony, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- The meeting that ‘Melo had Wednesday with the Mavs was all business and lacked the elaborate flair that accompanied his visits with Chicago and Houston, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details.
And-Ones: Monroe, Pacers, Rambis, Stephenson
None of the executive, scouts, and agents with whom Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press spoke over the last two years said they considered Greg Monroe worthy of a maximum-salary contract. The reported interest from the Magic is “lukewarm at best,” as Ellis writes amid his look at Monroe’s market value and options. Here’s more from around the league:
- The league projects that the Pacers will wind up having made $7MM in 2013/14, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. The league says they’ll have lost $14MM on their own but made $18MM through revenue sharing and another $3MM via luxury tax payouts.
- Lakers assistant coach and head coaching candidate Kurt Rambis has agreed to become an assistant coach for the Knicks, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks had reportedly offered him a four-year deal worth about $1.2MM a year.
- Chicago has spoken with Lance Stephenson, but the Bulls see him merely as a fallback option and feel like his asking price is more than they’ll be willing to pay, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Agents and union officials are looking to change the perception that stars should take paycuts for the benefit of their teams, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News details.
- The Magic and Suns are pursuing Patrick Patterson, according to David Baumann of CBS Sports Radio Orlando (Twitter links).
- An executive with an Eastern Conference team told Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News that his club was preparing a multiyear deal for Patty Mills but halted its pursuit when news of Mills’ shoulder injury surfaced. Mills wound up with a three-year, $12MM deal from the Spurs.
Heat Rumors: Ariza, Deng, Stephenson, Morrow
What happens with the Heat this summer will prove pivotal to teams around the league, and while LeBron James largely holds the keys, team president Pat Riley isn’t sitting idly as he attempts to improve the roster with the hope his star returns. Here’s the latest from South Beach:
- The Heat are “extremely interested” in Trevor Ariza and Luol Deng, Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick writes, adding that signing them would require both to tamp down their salary demands. Ariza’s camp has made it clear that he wants much more than $8MM a year, Skolnick hears.
- Miami indeed inquired about the availability of Lance Stephenson, Skolnick adds in the same piece, confirming a report by ESPN’s Dan Le Batard, but they didn’t come close to matching the five-year, $44MM offer from the Pacers that the shooting guard reportedly turned down.
- The Heat never made an offer to Kyle Lowry or Marcin Gortat, a source tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel, and Miami never made either a priority, as Skolnick writes in his piece. The Heat believe that agents have been overstating Miami’s interest in some players as a means of driving up the value of their clients, and they’re even more frustrated with the high price of some of the deals so far in free agency, Skolnick hears. They had interest in Jodie Meeks and Avery Bradley, but not for the money they received, as the Bleacher Report scribe adds.
- The Heat never had a legitimate shot with mid-tier considerations like Lowry and Gortat anyway, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, who hears that they’re going after Anthony Morrow. The Thunder are also pursuing Morrow and the Magic had been, too, before they reached their deal with Ben Gordon, Stein adds (All Twitter links). The Heat have had Morrow on their radar for quite some time, Skolnick tweets.
Clippers Search For Sign-And-Trade Deals
2:33pm: Deng reciprocates the Clippers’ interest in a sign-and-trade deal, and he’s expected to speak with Rivers today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
1:12pm: There have been no such talks outside of the Nets expressing their lack of interest, according to Alex Raskin of The Wall Street Journal (Twitter link).
8:12am: The Clippers and Nets have spoken about a sign-and-trade that would involve Paul Pierce heading to Los Angeles, report Ramona Shelburne and Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.com. The Clippers have offered a combination of Jared Dudley, Matt Barnes and Reggie Bullock as they seek to relieve a glut of small forwards, but Brooklyn is so far unreceptive to any such package, according to Shelburne and Youngmisuk.
Pierce and Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers have talked about a deal, the ESPN scribes say, and while the Clippers could use the $5.305MM mid-level exception to sign him outright, a sign-and-trade would allow Pierce to reap a higher salary, since the Nets have his Bird Rights. Brooklyn could use those Bird Rights as leverage to keep Pierce in black-and-white, but because the team is well above the salary cap, it wouldn’t have means to replace the Jeff Schwartz client if he simply decided to sign with the Clippers for their mid-level. Pierce’s interest in the Clippers has been known for a while, and the connection between Pierce and Rivers, who spent several years together with the Celtics, is strong.
The 36-year-old Pierce is nonetheless a fallback for the Clippers in case the team can’t convince either LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony to come west, Shelburne and Youngmisuk write. Rivers and company have also met with Trevor Ariza, according to the report, and they’re also interested in sign-and-trades involving Ariza, Luol Deng and Spencer Hawes, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Pierce has a litany of other options as well, as the Blazers, Grizzlies, Bulls, Mavs and Rockets are other teams that have reportedly reached out to him.
Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, Bulls, Lakers, Ariza
Carmelo Anthony will meet with the Knicks in Los Angeles today after he finishes his visit with the Lakers, report Chris Broussard and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Marc Berman of the New York Post had speculated that an L.A.-based meeting between Carmelo and the Knicks could take place, since Anthony, team president Phil Jackson and coach Derek Fisher all have homes in the area. Here’s more on ‘Melo and other news from the third day of NBA free agency:
- The Bulls floated a $16MM annual salary figure to Anthony during their meeting on Tuesday, a source tells Berman for the same piece.
- The Lakers had planned to largely to hold off and hoard cap flexibility for the summer of 2015, but the team has shifted gears and become more “proactive” this summer, Berman also hears.
- Trevor Ariza told agent Rob Pelinka to try to work out a deal with the Wizards before he explored options with other teams, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. The Wizards are confident in their ability to re-sign the small forward and don’t plan on any major moves until they strike a deal with Ariza. Still, Broussard counts the Wizards among the teams with interest in fellow small forward Luol Deng (Twitter link), so it seems the team has a contingency plan.
- The Pacers reportedly reached out to Rodney Stuckey, but Broussard hears Indiana has no plans to pursue the combo guard (Twitter link).
- It’s unlikely that the Heat will wind up with as much as $12MM in money to spend beneath the cap, as they’ve reportedly been telling free agents, observes Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick (on Twitter). They’ll probably remain above the cap, according to Skolnick, leaving the $5.305MM mid-level exception as their most lucrative tool.
- The Clippers have strong interest in Toure’ Murry, tweets Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal, and they’ve spoken with Jordan Farmar, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Northwest Notes: Jazz, Blake, Humphries
The Thunder have jumped into the race for Pau Gasol, and while there’s conflicting information about just how strong their chances are of landing him, it seems Oklahoma City is taking a more aggressive posture than in years past to try to upgrade its team. Here’s more from around the Northwest Division:
- Negotiations between the Jazz and Kent Bazemore have moved beyond the preliminary stage, but the team and the Austin Walton client aren’t close to a deal, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders first reported Utah’s interest.
- The Blazers have had preliminary talks about a deal with Steve Blake, who’d love to play in Portland again, sources tell Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. The team and the Joel Bell client are expected to continue the talks, Haynes adds.
- The Timberwolves were set to speak with the agent for free agent Dante Cunningham on Wednesday, but while the fellow client of Joel Bell has interest in re-signing with the team, the Wolves don’t necessarily feel the same way, observes Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities. (Twitter links).
- The Wolves have interest in signing Kris Humphries to a one-year deal, according to Wolfson and Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link).
- Markel Starks, who went undrafted out of Georgetown last month, will play on the Wolves summer league team, in addition to doing the same with the Pistons, reports Zach Links of Hoops Rumors (Twitter link).
Pacers Seek Trade For Goran Dragic
11:58am: The Suns have no interest in trading Dragic, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News.
10:27am: Stein clarifies that Indiana’s target is Dragic, rather than Rondo (Twitter link). It appears from his last tweet that the Pacers are attempting to construct a multiteam trade involving Rondo in some way, even if Rondo wouldn’t be heading to Indiana in such a scenario.
10:02am: There are whispers that Indiana is attempting to pull the Celtics into the discussions with Rajon Rondo as a target, Stein tweets. Bird spoke of his admiration for Rondo last month in the same press conference in which he hinted at the possibility of Hill’s departure
9:04am: The Pacers have inquired with the Suns about the availability of guard Goran Dragic, but the teams have yet to find common ground in negotiations, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Pacers covet an upgrade at point guard, Stein tweets.
Pacers president Larry Bird said this spring that while he likes Hill, “you never know what’s going to happen this summer.” Stein points to the perception that Phoenix can’t afford both Dragic, who’s coming off a career year, and restricted free agent Eric Bledsoe, and though they certainly have enough cap flexibility to retain both of them for next season, Dragic can hit free agency in 2015 if he turns down his $7.5MM player option for 2015/16. A significant raise for him could prove a tight squeeze if the Suns and notoriously thrifty owner Robert Sarver want to avoid the luxury tax and keep alive their dreams of adding a superstar.
Bird and Suns GM Ryan McDonough hooked up last summer on the Luis Scola trade that helped Phoenix kick-start its revival. The Pacers were active in the free agent market Tuesday, making a trio of signings, as our Free Agent Tracker shows, after talks with Lance Stephenson had reached a stalemate.
Lakers Rumors: ‘Melo, Gasol, Rambis, Brooks
It’s the Lakers’ turn to try to impress Carmelo Anthony today as the free agency tour for the Knicks star continues. Kobe Bryant has cut short his European vacation to be in attendance for the pitch, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com details. Still, there’s plenty of other business for the Lakers to address, since they have just four players under contract and no head coach. We’ll round up the latest here:
- The Lakers would like to pair Anthony with Pau Gasol, and if the team were to convince Anthony to sign, Gasol would be far more likely to follow suit, as Shelburne reports in the same piece.
- The Knicks have offered Kurt Rambis a four-year contract worth about $1.2MM a year to become the team’s lead assistant coach, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The Lakers assistant appeared early last month to be among the front-runners to become the Lakers head coach, but a more recent report indicates that he’s fallen behind other candidates.
- MarShon Brooks is the only Lakers free agent whom the team has yet to reach out to, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com.
- The Hawks are among the teams that have spoken with Nick Young, as agent Mark Bartelstein tells MeMenamin for the same piece.
- Xavier Henry, who’s recovering from wrist and knee surgeries, will work out for the Lakers when healthy before exploring options with other teams, McMenamin also writes.
Cavs Hesitate To Make Offer To Gordon Hayward
THURSDAY, 9:42am: The possibility remains that the Cavs will eventually extend an offer to Hayward, Amick writes.
WEDNESDAY, 9:53pm: The Cavs won’t give Hayward an offer sheet, a source tells Sam Amick of USA Today. Cleveland likes the 23-year-old, but they believe that Utah will match any offer and they don’t want to tie up their cap space. Their reluctance to bind their flexibility may or may not be related to their hopes of signing LeBron James.
7:45pm: The Cavs’ belief that the Jazz will match any offer sheet for Hayward is strongly discouraging Cleveland from extending one, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
3:49pm: The Cavs are undecided about a max offer to Hayward, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer, who believes a sign-and-trade is a more likely scenario, pointing to Utah’s predraft trade talk with Cleveland as having established a familiarity between the respective front offices.
2:40pm: A source close to the Cavs tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio that the details of the team’s meeting with Hayward have been “greatly exaggerated” (Twitter link).
1:10pm: Some sources give Marc Stein of ESPN.com different figures, but most tell him that the Jazz have been willing to give Hayward four years and $48MM while he’s been seeking four years at $52MM (Twitter link). Previous reports indicated the Jazz were willing to go above that four-year, $48MM amount during extension talks this fall.
12:38pm: The Jazz remain intent on matching any offer to Hayward, as Jody Genessy of the Deseret News hears (Twitter link).
12:04pm: The Cavs are believed to be readying a max offer sheet to present to Gordon Hayward during his visit with the team today, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Jazz have been steadfast that they’ll match any offer, but it appears Cleveland is prepared to test their resolve.
There was reportedly mutual interest between the C’s, who employ Hayward’s college coach, and the 24-year-old swingman, though Boston’s agreement with Avery Bradley might alter that equation. The Suns apparently have had interest in a deal at least approaching the max, and the Hornets reportedly like Hayward, too. Still, the Cavs have targeted Hayward for months, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link), and they have no shortage of cap flexibility to accommodate Hayward’s max, which would be roughly 25% of the salary cap.
The Jazz and Hayward reportedly discussed an extension last fall worth more than the four years, $48MM that Derrick Favors agreed to take in his extension. There’s probably about a $2MM difference in between the average annual value of Favors’ deal and the starting salary in a max deal for Hayward, but a max deal would entail raises of 4.5% if Hayward signed with another team and 7.5% if Hayward re-signed with the Jazz.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Jazz are content to have the Cavs sign Hayward to the offer sheet and match, since the max deal Utah could give him, which entails larger raises and a fifth year, would be larger. The Jazz would have three days to match should the Cavs sign the Mark Bartelstein client to the offer sheet when they’re eligible to do so after the July moratorium is over.