Zwerling On Knicks, Ivan Johnson, Humphries
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com has tweeted a string of updates on the Knicks today, as we've noted in a pair of posts. Marc Berman of the New York Post delivered plenty more on the Knicks earlier today, and this evening Zwerling delivers a full story on the latest from New York. We'll hit the highlights from Zwerling's piece here:
- The Knicks and Ivan Johnson are discussing a potential deal. The former Hawks power forward had been holding out for a team to commit its mini mid-level exception to him, but his interest in the Knicks, who can only offer the minimum, indicates that his price may have come down.
- The Knicks' interest in Kris Humphries is mutual, but the Celtics are still unlikely to buy him out.
- Other big men the Knicks are considering include Cole Aldrich, Hamed Haddadi, Jerome Jordan, Gani Lawal, Shavlik Randolph and Henry Sims.
- The Knicks remain interested in Beno Udrih and Bobby Brown, but Zwerling confirms Berman's report that the team is no longer looking at Delonte West.
- Berman wrote that the Knicks are expected to invite Toure Murry to training camp, and Zwerling hears that the team will do the same with "a few young developmental point guards."
Atlantic Rumors: Iverson, Pargo, Williams, West
Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported last week that Celtics second-round pick Colton Iverson had agreed to a deal with Besiktas of Turkey, but today Washburn tweets that Boston's release of Shavlik Randolph could clear the way for Iverson to join the Celtics this season. The C's would have to open up another roster space, as Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times points out (via Twitter), but Washburn says the team plans additional moves and needs big men (Twitter link). They're not the only Atlantic Division team looking to add to its roster, as we detail:
- The Knicks are looking for a point guard, and their latest target appears to be 33-year-old Jannero Pargo. A source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that New York and the Mark Bartelstein client have entered talks (Twitter link).
- Mo Williams had been another possibility, but he's looking for a better haul than the minimum salary, which puts the Knicks out of the running, Zwerling tweets. The Grizzlies and Heat look like the strongest suitors for Williams.
- The Knicks are also up against the Grizzlies in the pursuit of Delonte West, who tells Washburn that he'd be willing to accept a non-guaranteed deal (Twitter link).
- As we passed along earlier today, Zach Links of Hoops Rumors heard from Andrei Kirilenko as part of a conference call on the veteran forward's decision to take a discount to sign with the Nets.
Most, Least Active Teams In Free Agency
Top five most active teams, by number of players signed
Top five least active teams, by amount of money committed
- Sixers: None
- Suns: None
- Thunder: Two players, two years, $2.586MM
- Jazz: Two players, four years, $3.200MM
- Heat: One player, two years, $3.434MM
Top five least active teams, by number of players signed
Note: These lists, compiled with the help of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Tracker, don't include signed draft picks, players acquired in trades, or contract extensions. They do include players acquired via sign-and-trade, players who re-signed, and players who signed non-guaranteed training camp invitations, sometimes known as "summer contracts." The dollar figures include any non-guaranteed money the teams have doled out. Some of the signings are not yet official.
Below are the figures for each team:
Bucks Sign Gary Neal
JULY 30TH, 4:05pm: The Bucks have officially signed Neal, the team announced today (Twitter link).
JULY 27TH, 4:31pm: Bonuses could push the value of Neal's contract to $7MM, TNT's David Aldridge reports (on Twitter).
3:42pm: Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com tweets that the full value of the deal is $6.5MM (hat tip to RealGM.com), which makes a little more sense, considering San Antonio's reluctance to re-sign Neal. If Arnovitz is correct, the Bucks will have to use cap room rather than their room exception.
2:53pm: The Bucks have agreed to sign Gary Neal to a two-year contract worth more than $3MM, a source tells Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported earlier today that the sides were nearing a deal. It appears that the Spurs withdrew their qualifying offer to Neal, so that allows Milwaukee to sign the combo guard outright without having to wait three days to find out whether the Spurs match. Neal's contract will be fully guaranteed, USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt tweets.
The David Falk client was reportedly likely to re-sign with the Spurs at one point this month, but a deal with San Antonio never materialized. The Bucks were one of four teams with interest in Neal, who was receiving offers that the Spurs were reluctant to match, prompting GM R.C. Buford and company to sign Marco Belinelli.
The Bucks can absorb Neal's contract into either their room exception, which allows a starting salary of $2.652MM, or their plentiful cap space. Bringing Neal aboard doesn't figure to have much affect on the team's negotiations with Brandon Jennings, since Milwaukee can go over the cap to re-sign him.
Bucks Sign Giannis Antetokounmpo
JULY 30TH: Antetokounmpo has officially signed his deal with the Bucks, as agent Giorgos Dimitropoulos tweets.
JULY 27TH: Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom the Bucks drafted 15th overall in this year's draft, is headed to Milwaukee and will sign his rookie-scale contract soon, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times. The Athens native, dubbed the "Greek Freak," is in line for a first-year salary of nearly $1.8MM, as our salary chart for first-rounders shows, providing he signs for the standard 120% of his scale amount.
It seemed clear soon after the draft that the Bucks had no intention of stashing the raw, 18-year-old small forward overseas, so perhaps the monthlong holdup in signing his deal has been related to Milwaukee GM John Hammond's desire to maintain flexibility in the free agent market. The Bucks have been active in the past few days, signing Miroslav Raduljica and agreeing to a contract with Gary Neal, so it seems they're ready to use their ample cap room.
Antetokounmpo spent last season with a second-division club in Greece, so NBA competition will be a significant step up. He figures to be assigned to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, Milwaukee's D-League affiliate, though with five other NBA clubs sharing the Mad Ants, finding enough playing time could prove a challenge.
Bobcats Re-Sign Gerald Henderson
JULY 30TH, 11:01am: The Bobcats have officially re-signed Henderson, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 26TH, 8:04pm: Henderson and the Bobcats have reached an agreement, tweets Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer.
7:27pm: The Bobcats and restricted free agent Gerald Henderson are putting the finishing touches on a new three-year, $18MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The swingman and agent Arn Tellem turned down Charlotte's offer of $7MM per year to get the team to agree to a third-year player option, according to Wojnarowski.
The two sides are expected to formalize the deal early next week, Wojnarowski adds. The move has appeared likely over the past couple of weeks, though Henderson reportedly drew "heavy interest" from the Wolves before they acquired Kevin Martin. Negotiations between Henderson's camp and the Bobcats seemed to stall a couple of weeks ago, with the sides far apart on financial terms. While Wojnarowski reported then that the Bobcats were seeking sign-and-trade scenarios that would send Henderson elsewhere, his story today identifies the 25-year-old as the franchise's top priority.
Henderson was reportedly seeking a salary of about $8MM a year, but it looks like he'll settle for about $2MM less. The move will leave the Bobcats with less than $1MM worth of cap space, unless they backload Henderson's contract. Charlotte committed its room exception to Josh McRoberts, so re-signing Henderson is probably the club's final major offseason move.
The former 12th overall pick averaged 15.5 points per game last season, up only slightly from his 15.1 PPG in 2011/12. The career 27.2% three-point shooter showed improvement from behind the arc, nailing 33% of his three-point looks in 2012/13, and his 16.4 PER was also a career high by a wide margin.
Jazz Sign Ian Clark
JULY 29TH: The Jazz have officially signed Clark, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 24TH: The Jazz have agreed to sign Las Vegas Summer League title game MVP Ian Clark, agent Bill Duffy tells USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link). It's a two-year deal with a team option on the final season. Zillgitt reported yesterday that the Jazz, as well as the Warriors and Trail Blazers, had their eye on Clark after his 33-point performance for Golden State in Monday's Vegas summer league championship game.
Clark averaged 12.4 points on 48.5% shooting from behind the arc for the Warriors in Las Vegas, while putting up 16.4 PPG and 42.9% three-point shooting for the Heat's team in the Orlando Summer League. The Heat wanted to have him on their Vegas team, too, but the Warriors scooped him up, according to Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).
The accuracy was no fluke for the 6'3" shooting guard, who knocked down 42.6% of his three-point attempts in four years at Belmont. Still, he went undrafted, and he used the summer leagues to boost his stock. Clark probably won't earn much more than the minimum, but the Jazz still have some cap space available, so perhaps they simply outbid his other suitors.
Rockets Sign Marcus Camby
MONDAY, 12:50pm: The Rockets have officially signed Camby, the team announced today in a press release.
SUNDAY, 12:23pm: Camby will sign for one year at the minimum salary, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
11:59am: The Rockets will sign Marcus Camby today, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reported just moments earlier that the move was expected to take place (Twitter link). Camby already passed a physical with Rockets team doctors, and agent Rick Kaplan recently told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle that the Rockets were at the top of Camby's list of suitors.
Camby, a resident of nearby Pearland, Texas, had a desire to play at home and with a contender, Feigen tweets, giving the Rockets the edge over the Bulls and Heat, the other leading candidates for the 39-year-old. The Bulls appear to be the first runner-up, as talks between Camby and Chicago were reportedly going "extremely well" on Friday. The Heat's interest appeared to be on the wane.
The 17-year veteran will probably receive a minimum-salary deal, though the capped-out Rockets have their full $2.652MM room exception available. Camby has had one prior stint with the Rockets, who acquired him at the trade deadline in 2012 before participating in a sign-and-trade last summer with the Knicks. Camby inked a three-year, $13.151MM contract to go to New York, but injuries kept him from living up to it, limiting him to just 42 points in 24 games this past season.
The Knicks shipped him to the Raptors in the Andrea Bargnani trade this month, and Toronto accepted Camby's request that they buy him out. The Raptors reportedly recouped $2MM of the guaranteed portion of Camby's deal.
Toure Murry Mulling Invitation To Knicks Camp
The Knicks have invited guard Toure Murry to training camp, but he's still weighing his options, a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). The Knicks reportedly began talks with the Wichita State and D-League alum earlier this month after he played for New York's summer league team. Zwerling first reported the Knicks were considering Murry two weeks ago.
Murry averaged 8.3 points and 1.6 steals in 23.4 minutes per game with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League this past season. He split his time in summer league between the Knicks and Rockets, notching 7.2 PPG and 1.0 SPG in 19.1 MPG over six total contests. His numbers in college weren't particularly eye-popping either, and he went undrafted in 2012.
It's unclear exactly what the Knicks like about Murry, but he's a favorite of coach Mike Woodson, and his hesitance to accept the team's invitation suggests there are others who regard him highly. He could have an offer from an overseas team that involves guaranteed money that he's reluctant to pass up, though that's just my speculation.
Each Team’s Most Expensive Signee
The Rockets introduced free agent signee Dwight Howard this month with a flashy press conference that doubled as a parade of Rockets Hall of Famers, many of whom showed up to take part in the event that NBA TV broadcast nationwide. In Detroit, Pistons president of basketball ops Joe Dumars could barely contain his excitement as he put new acqusition Josh Smith on display in front of the media.
It's safe to say the Bulls were a bit more subdued when they announcing their signing of Mike Dunleavy.
Just about every team has waded into the free agent market in July, with widely varying results. The Rockets handed out a max contract to Howard, while the Clippers did the same in re-signing Chris Paul. The most lavish commitment the Lakers made was a one-year contract for Chris Kaman for the value of the mini mid-level exception.
The offseason has been even quieter for the Thunder and Heat. Their minimum-salary agreements with Derek Fisher and Chris Andersen, respectively, are their only forays into free agency so far. The Kings, too, have only made one free agent pickup, signing Carl Landry to a long-term deal.
That's a spending spree compared to what's happened in Philadelphia and Phoenix. Neither the Sixers nor the Suns have signed any free agents. That will surely change as teams begin to invite players to training camp, but both rebuilding clubs have passed on the chance to spend for upgrades.
With the help of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Tracker, we've put together a list of each team's greatest expenditure in free agency this summer. In most cases, the players receiving the most lucrative multiyear deals are also getting the highest average annual salaries, but there are a few exceptions, as we note. The list includes free agent signees and players acquired via sign-and-trade, but it doesn't include signed draft picks. Some of the signings have yet to become official.
- 76ers — None
- Hawks — Jeff Teague: four years, $32MM (by total value); Paul Millsap: two years, $19MM (by average annual value)
- Bobcats — Al Jefferson: three years, $40.5MM
- Bulls — Mike Dunleavy: two years, $6.509MM
- Bucks — O.J. Mayo: three years, $24MM
- Cavaliers — Jarrett Jack: four years, $25.2MM (by total value); Andrew Bynum: two years, $24.79MM (by average annual value)
- Celtics — Keith Bogans: three years, $15.857MM
- Clippers — Chris Paul: five years, $107.343MM
- Grizzlies — Tony Allen: four years, $20MM
- Heat — Chris Andersen: two years, $3.434MM
- Jazz — John Lucas III: two years, $3.2MM
- Kings — Carl Landry: four years, $26.047MM
- Knicks — J.R. Smith: three years, $17.947MM
- Lakers — Chris Kaman: one year, $3.183MM
- Magic — Jason Maxiell: two years, $5MM
- Mavericks — Jose Calderon: four years, $29MM (by total value); Monta Ellis: three years, $25.08MM (by average annual value)
- Nets — Andrei Kirilenko: two years, $6.509MM
- Nuggets — J.J. Hickson: three years, $16.145MM
- Pacers — David West: three years, $36.6MM
- Pelicans — Tyreke Evans: four years, $44MM
- Pistons — Josh Smith: four years, $54MM
- Raptors — Tyler Hansbrough: two years, $5.112MM
- Rockets — Dwight Howard, four years, $87.591MM
- Spurs — Tiago Splitter: four years, $36MM
- Suns — None
- Thunder — Derek Fisher: one year, $1.4MM
- Timberwolves — Kevin Martin: four years, $27.805MM
- Trail Blazers — Dorell Wright: three years, $6MM
- Warriors — Andre Iguodala: four years, $48MM
- Wizards — Martell Webster: four years, $21.991MM