Raptors Stymie Rockets’ Interest In Kyle Lowry?
3:34pm: Lowry is thinking over an offer from the Rockets, Wojnarowski tweets. That’s presumably a scenario that would see him sign outright with Houston rather than via sign-and-trade.
3:17pm: Lowry is also considering a meeting with the Lakers, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who have interest, as we noted below. Lowry already met with the Rockets.
2:41pm: The Rockets were trying to work out a way to acquire Kyle Lowry via sign-and-trade with the Raptors, but Toronto isn’t playing along, and that appears to have put Houston out of the running for the free agent point guard, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The Rockets had reportedly viewed Lowry as a fallback option if bigger names proved out of their reach.
Lowry met with the Raptors today and is mulling an offer from them, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The Raptors have apparently been preparing to pitch a four-year, $48MM deal to the Andy Miller client, though another dispatch indicated that they were thinking about tacking a fifth year onto that.
The Heat are reportedly attempting to set up a meeting with the point guard, too. The Lakers and Mavs also apparently reached out to Lowry, who this spring made his affection for Toronto clear while stopping short of promising a return.
LeBron James To Demand Max Salary
TUESDAY, 3:12pm: James is indeed seeking a maximum salary deal for just one or two seasons, according to John Canzano of The Oregonian. Canzano reiterates the details of the discounted figures to which Wade and Bosh have consented to assist the team in its attempt at a significant upgrade.
MONDAY, 12:26pm: LeBron James will insist on the maximum salary in a new deal this summer, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com, though it’s not clear whether he’d demand the maximum number of years. James isn’t planning to meet with any teams, allowing agent Rich Paul to do all of the negotiating, and that plus his salary demand has led teams around the league to believe more strongly that James will stay with the Heat, according to Windhorst.
The ESPN scribe suggests that the NBA’s maximum salary for a veteran of 10 or more seasons will rise to $22.2MM for 2014/15. That would be the max for James, but even if the NBA’s max doesn’t surge that high, James’ max will be no less than $20,020,875, which is 105% of his salary from this past season.
James met with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh to discuss salaries this weekend, so it appears it will be up to Wade and Bosh to take discounts if the Heat are going to add a free agent of note from another team this summer. All three took less than the max to sign with Miami in 2010.
Windhorst’s assertion that James appears increasingly likely to re-sign counters a dispatch from Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, who hears that James had begun to distance himself from Heat management during the season. Still, a source tells Amico that James would like to sign a deal that would give him the ability to opt out after one season, and with James apparently undecided on the length of his deal, according to Windhorst, perhaps James is indeed eyeing another shot at free agency in 2015.
Southeast Rumors: Wizards, Heat, McRoberts
Plenty of teams are hoping for a chance to pitch to LeBron James, but the Wizards aren’t one of them, as owner Ted Leonsis explained in an appearance on 106.7 The Fan today. Scott Allen of The Washington Post has the transcription.
“You’d have to have cap space and you’d have to renounce all your free agents,” Leonsis said. “Then you’d have to be able to call their agent and say, ‘Would you think he would consider coming here?’ So, I never understood the grandstanding. Some of the bloggers have said, just get in the mix and throw your name out there. OK, so you generate positive pixels and it creates these faux expectations, and LeBron is in total control of his future. LeBron will do what LeBron wants to do. We have to be able to control what we want to control, and right now our main targets are retaining our players.”
Here’s more from around the Southeast Division:
- The Heat‘s top two targets for outside improvement appear to be Kyle Lowry and Luol Deng, but neither seem likely to end up with the team, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Deng is unwilling to take a discount to go to Miami, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, probably putting him out of reach (Twitter link).
- Hornets free agent power forward Josh McRoberts and the Blazers have mutual interest in a deal, as Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears.
- The Wizards would like to bring back free agent point guard Garrett Temple, but they face competition from the Heat, Magic and Bulls, who have also expressed interest, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Hawks are interested in re-signing Elton Brand, but the Knicks are eyeing him, too, writes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Western Rumors: Nowitzki, Frye, Sefolosha, Love
The Mavs have had advanced discussions with Dirk Nowitzki but both sides have agreed to put off sealing a deal until after Wednesday’s meeting with Carmelo Anthony, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears. That’s to let the team keep maximum flexibility, the same desire that also prompted the sides to decide against an extension. The Mavs and Nowitzki engaged in extension talks before he became a free agent, so Dallas has a strong idea of what the perennial All-Star wants, Stein writes. There’s more on the Mavs amid the latest from the Western Conference:
- The Mavs have interest in D.J. Augustin, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com details.
- The Suns are making a push to re-sign Channing Frye amid interest from the Cavs and Warriors, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Clippers, Mavs and Rockets have scheduled meetings with Thabo Sefolosha, but the Thunder haven’t reached out to him, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
- Kevin Love trade talk between the Wolves and Warriors is still stalemated over Minnesota’s request for the inclusion of Klay Thompson and Golden State’s hesitancy to give him up in a deal, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Lakers, Rockets and Mavs followed through with their interest in Jordan Hill and made contact over night, reports Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link). Hill, like Pau Gasol, warmed to the idea of a remaining with the Lakers when coach Mike D’Antoni left, as Sean Deveney of The Sporting News details.
- The Mavs are interested in unrestricted free agent Al-Farouq Aminu, according to MacMahon.
- Dallas is making progress toward new deals with Devin Harris and Vince Carter, tweets Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Lakers were extremely active in the hours after free agency began, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. The Lakers were working the phones “like crazy” and talked to a lot of free agents, Kennedy says.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Pistons, Pelicans Talk Monroe, Anderson Swap
The Pistons and Pelicans have discussed a sign-and-trade that would send Greg Monroe to his hometown of New Orleans in exchange for Ryan Anderson, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link). An earlier report indicated that the Pelicans had inquired about the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal involving Monroe, but it wasn’t clear if the Pistons were receptive.
There’s reportedly a “high possibility” the Pistons will swing a sign-and-trade involving Monroe, a restricted free agent, if he receives a max offer sheet from another team, and the Hawks, Magic and Blazers have all shown interest since free agency began overnight. The Lakers are also expected to have interest and the Cavs are apparently mulling a run as well at the fifth-ranked player in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said recently that he’s spent the majority of his time since joining the team this spring on Monroe’s impending free agency and has been in consistent contact with Monroe’s agent, David Falk. Anderson played just 22 games this past season and underwent neck surgery after a frightening on-court injury, but he’s been one the league’s quintessential stretch power forwards in recent seasons and would seemingly be a better fit with the shooting-deficient Pistons than Monroe is. Still, Monroe, 24, is one of the league’s best up-and-coming big men.
Anderson is set to make slightly less than $8.5MM next season, so taking back Monroe by himself would represent an uneven swap for New Orleans. The Pelicans have limited cap flexibility that’s in line to be swallowed up by their acquisition of Omer Asik, and they’ll have to clear more room just to make the Asik deal work. I’d expect other players to be heading the Pistons’ way should an Anderson-Monroe trade happen.
Union Urges Players To Spread Out 2016/17 Pay
The union is advising free agents to structure their new contracts so they’ll receive their paychecks for the 2016/17 season over 18 months to keep money coming during a possible work stoppage, reports Scott Soshnick of Bloomberg News (Twitter link). A memo the union sent to its members cites the continued revenue that league received from networks during the last lockout in urging the players to keep their own income flowing, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
Such an altered payment schedule wouldn’t have an effect on team salary calculations. The maneuver is unavailable to players who’ve already signed deals through the 2016/17 season, Amick notes (on Twitter). It’s also unavailable to those who sign minimum-salary contracts for that season, as fellow USA Today scribe Jeff Zillgitt points out (Twitter link).
The league and the players have a mutual option to terminate the collective bargaining agreement in 2017. A report from March indicated that NBA executives and agents alike feared one or both sides would opt out and a lockout would follow. The NBA has endured lockouts on multiple occasions, but only two, in 1999 and during the last labor negotiations in 2011, have resulted in the loss of regular season games. Progress between the league and the union is seemingly at a standstill as the union continues to search for an executive director to replace Billy Hunter, who was ousted at the All-Star break in 2013.
Wolves Open Extension Talks With Ricky Rubio
The Wolves and representatives for Ricky Rubio have begun discussions about a rookie scale extension for the point guard, reports Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link). The talks figure to be challenging, Wolfson surmises, with Rubio coming off a disappointing season and the specter of a Kevin Love trade hanging over the heads of the Wolves.
Agent Dan Fegan represents Rubio as well as restricted free agent Chandler Parsons, Wolfson notes, and the Wolves are reportedly mulling a sign-and-trade pitch to Parsons and the Rockets as part of a Love deal if other Love trades don’t develop. Parsons’ stock is high but Rubio registered a career-low 9.5 points per game this year as he failed to show progress as a shooter or scorer in his first full NBA season after injuries curtailed his first two NBA campaigns. He nonetheless continued to show deft passing ability, averaging 8.6 assists against 2.7 turnovers per game.
Former Wolves GM David Kahn left the door open for the Wolves to make Rubio their Designated Player when he refused to give a fifth year to Love when he signed his extension in 2012, but the move has backfired. It seems unlikely that Rubio would receive the maximum salary required in a five-year extension offer. Still, Fegan appears likely to ask for a deal close to the max, with average annual salaries around $15.5MM. The sides have until October 31st to strike a deal, or Rubio will be set for restricted free agency next summer.
Eastern Rumors: ‘Melo, Waiters, Pierce, Blatche
As Carmelo Anthony is set to visit with the Bulls today, two sources tell Marc Berman of the New York Post that Anthony’s wife is quite satisfied with living in New York and doesn’t want him to leave the Knicks. ‘Melo and Tom Thibodeau are in agreement that the Bulls shouldn’t trade Taj Gibson in any scenario, even as the Bulls attempt to clear salary to sign the Knicks star, Berman also writes. Many around the league reportedly see the Knicks as having the inside track to retain Anthony, though the Bulls appear to have the lead among teams looking to take him away from New York. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Celtics have made contact with about 30 players in the hours since free agency began, with Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons among them, tweets Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald.
- Cavs GM David Griffin said Friday that he sees No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggins as “a big two-guard,” leading some executives to believe that the Cavs will look to trade Dion Waiters this summer, reports Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). This also explains Cleveland’s push to sign Trevor Ariza, Kennedy surmises (on Twitter).
- The Clippers loom as the largest threat to sign Paul Pierce away from the Nets, but the Nets still seem optimistic about their chances of keeping him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
- Nets GM Billy King reached out to all of the team’s free agents except Andray Blatche, as King told reporters today, including Stefan Bondy of the New York Post (Twitter link). That signals Blatche’s imminent departure from Brooklyn, Bondy concludes.
- Suitors believe they can pry restricted free agent Mike Scott from the Hawks with an offer sheet at the right amount, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Pistons are expected to meet with Anthony Morrow soon, according to Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
- Head coach David Blatt and lead assistant Tyronn Lue helped sell Kyrie Irving on signing the $90MM extension with the Cavs in their overnight meeting, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Sterling, Parker, Crawford
Attorneys for Donald Sterling will argue that wife Shelly Sterling exerted undue influence on one of the two doctors who examined Donald and declared him mentally incompetent, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com details. Donald’s mental competency is no longer on trial. Instead, the probate trial between the Sterlings will center on whether Shelly followed the rules of the Sterling family trust, according to Shelburne. Those rules required that two mental health experts submit letters to the effect that Donald was mentally incompetent before allowing Shelly to take full control of the trust, Shelburne writes. Shelly agreed to sell the Clippers in May to Steve Ballmer, claiming that she fully controlled the trust, but Donald is fighting the sale. Here’s more from around the league:
- The Spurs kept Tony Parker through Monday, unsurprisingly, but doing so means his $3.5MM partial guarantee is now a fully guaranteed $12.5MM salary for 2014/15.
- Jamal Crawford of the Clippers had his $1.5MM partial guarantee bumped to a full guarantee of $5.45MM when he remained on the roster through Monday.
- Kosta Koufos remains on the Grizzlies, so his $500K partial guarantee is now a $3MM full guarantee.
- Parker’s teammate Austin Daye is also still with the Spurs, so his $250K partial guarantee is a fully guaranteed minimum salary.
- The Hornets kept Jeffery Taylor around, so his minimum salary went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed.
- It appears as though the Magic are officially under the cap, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). That means Orlando loses access to a $6,077,280 trade exception it could have reaped from last week’s Arron Afflalo deal.
- The Hawks didn’t give big man Gustavo Ayon a qualifying offer by Monday’s deadline, making him an unrestricted free agent, notes Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Twitter link). There weren’t reports of qualifying offers to James Southerland of the Pelicans, Adonis Thomas of the Sixers and Bernard James of the Mavs, so presumably they’re all unrestricted free agents as well.
- The Wolves hired Ryan Saunders as an assistant coach, the team announced (on Twitter). Saunders, the son of Wolves head coach/executive Flip Saunders, had served the last five seasons as a Wizards assistant.
Bucks Hire Jason Kidd, Fire Larry Drew
The Bucks today named Jason Kidd their head coach, the team announced. It’ll be a three-year deal for $12-15MM. He replaces Larry Drew, whom the team let go after reaching a deal to pry Kidd from the Nets. Milwaukee relinquishes 2015 and 2019 second-round draft picks to Brooklyn as compensation. The 2015 second-rounder is actually Brooklyn’s own pick, which the Nets owed to the Bucks from a previous trade.
“When you list the characteristics that make a successful head coach, you would include leadership, communication and a competitive drive,” Bucks GM John Hammond said as part of the team’s statement. “Jason used all of those traits to become a 10-time All-Star player in the NBA, and has now translated his on-court success to the bench. We welcome him to the Bucks organization and look forward to building a Championship-caliber team with him as our head coach.”
In spite of Hammond’s remarks, it appears his job is in jeopardy. Kidd is coming over only as coach, but Hammond assistant GM David Morway had no knowledge of the contact between ownership and Kidd, and the prevailing sentiment around the league is that it’s just a matter of time before Kidd takes control of the front office in Milwaukee. Kidd’s pursuit of front office control in Brooklyn led to his departure from the team.
Lionel Hollins appears to be the front-runner to fill the vacated head coaching position in Brooklyn, while he’s also reportedly a serious candidate for the Lakers job. George Karl and Ettore Messina are also in the mix for Brooklyn, according to reports, while there’s conflicting information about whether Mark Jackson is also a candidate.
Kidd’s departure from Brooklyn after a single season as head coach brings a fitting end to a one-year tenure rife with surprises. His hiring had been the first shock, as he’d just finished his playing career that same spring. Kidd and the Nets tapped Lawrence Frank to serve as a highly paid assistant, but Frank was removed from the bench in the first half of the season and instead assigned to write daily reports for the team. Kidd’s Nets rebounded from a slow start to make the second round of the playoffs, but after Derek Fisher and Steve Kerr wound up with more lucrative deals to coach teams in spite of the same lack of experience Kidd carried into the Nets job, the Brooklyn coach sought more power.
Reports this weekend indicated that the Nets turned down his request for control over the front office, and when Kidd’s friend Marc Lasry, co-owner of the Bucks, made entreaties, all that was left for Brooklyn was to work out the compensation. The Nets were holding out for a first-rounder, but settled for the pair of second-round picks. The fallout in Brooklyn appears likely to have an effect on whether Shaun Livingston, who admires Kidd, will re-sign with the team in free agency.
Photo Courtesy USA Today Sports Images. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com first reported the Nets and Bucks had a deal (Twitter link). Howard Beck of Bleacher Report, Marc Stein of ESPN.com and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported details of the compensation going to Brooklyn (All Twitter links). Wojnarowski also added that the feeling around the league is that Kidd will eventually take control of the Bucks front office (Twitter link). Beck noted that Kidd was just coming over to coach the Bucks for now (Twitter link). Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported that Drew had been fired (Twitter link). Beck and Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had details of the contract that Jason Kidd is signing (Twitter links).