Western Rumors: Neal, Miller, Teodosic
The Spurs, like the Thunder last season, have largely stood pat the summer after winning the Western Conference title. The substitution of Marco Belinelli for Gary Neal stands as the most significant change in San Antonio, but, just as Oklahoma City was frequently overlooked in favor of the Lakers in 2012, the Spurs don't appear to be clear favorites to make it back to the Finals. The Thunder are lurking, the Rockets and Warriors have made major upgrades, while the Clippers, Grizzlies and perhaps the Nuggets could also win the West. Here's more on the Spur who got away and other news from the Western Conference:
- The Timberwolves never spoke with agent David Falk or anyone else from Neal's camp about signing the guard before he reached agreement yesterday with the Bucks, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- Nikolaos Lotsos, the agent for Serbian-born guard Milos Teodosic, tells Sports.ru that his client rejected an offer from the Grizzlies so that he can continue his career overseas (translation via Sportando).
- Darius Miller's minimum-salary contract with the Pelicans became fully guaranteed for the coming season when the team elected not to waive him by the end of yesterday. Previously, the deal had been completely non-guaranteed.
How Teams Have Used The Bi-Annual Exception
More players have signed for the bi-annual exception this summer than in any offseason since 2009. Still, few teams in recent years have made use of the tool that's available to every club with a team salary between the cap and the luxury tax apron.
This year, the bi-annual allows for a starting salary of up to $2.016MM. Contracts can be for two seasons, with a 4.5% raise allowed for year two. Nate Robinson and the Nuggets, Eric Maynor and the Wizards, and C.J. Watson and the Pacers have all agreed to the full amount. The Warriors and Jermaine O'Neal struck a one-year deal for $2MM, just a shade under the full bi-annual amount. There's dispute over whether the Timberwolves used the bi-annual for Ronny Turiaf's new contract. Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld has Turiaf's two-year, $3MM deal down for a partial amount of the bi-annual, while Mark Deeks of ShamSports lists him as having signed for part of the mid-level exception.
Either way, that's the most bi-annual signings we've seen in a while, and there could be more on the way. The trend won't necessarily continue, since, as the name suggests, teams can't use the bi-annual two years in a row. As more teams use the bi-annual this year, fewer will be eligible to do so next year.
Here's a look at the use of bi-annual exception over the last several years. The use of the term "full amount" below refers to the starting salary, as some of those players signed for the maximum two years while others took only a one-year deal.
2013/14
- Nuggets — Gave the full amount to Nate Robinson
- Wizards — Gave the full amount to Eric Maynor
- Timberwolves — Gave a partial amount to Ronny Turiaf1
- Warriors — Gave a partial amount to Jermaine O'Neal
- Pacers — Gave the full amount to C.J. Watson
2012/13
- Bulls — Gave the full amount to Marco Belinelli
- Spurs — Gave a partial amount to Nando De Colo
- Clippers — Gave the full amount to Grant Hill
2011/12
- Raptors — Gave the full amount to Gary Forbes
- Grizzlies — Gave the full amount to Jeremy Pargo
2010/11
- Pistons — Gave the full amount to Ben Wallace
- Bucks — Gave the full amount to Keyon Dooling
2009/10
- Celtics — Gave the full amount to Marquis Daniels
- Bulls — Gave the full amount to Jannero Pargo
- Bobcats — Gave the full amount to Ronald Murray
- Cavaliers — Gave the full amount to Zydrunas Ilgauskas2
- Pacers — Gave a partial amount to Solomon Jones
- Lakers — Gave the full amount to Shannon Brown
- Timberwolves — Gave a partial amount to Sasha Pavlovic
- Raptors — Gave the full amount to Rasho Nesterovic
- Wizards — Gave the full amount to Fabricio Oberto
2008/09
- Rockets — Gave the full amount to Brent Barry
- Bucks — Gave a partial amount to Francisco Elson
- Nets — Gave the full amount to Jarvis Hayes
- Magic — Gave the full amount to Anthony Johnson
2007/08
- Mavericks — Gave the full amount to Eddie Jones
- Pelicans — Gave the full amount to Jannero Pargo
- Suns — Gave the full amount to Grant Hill
- Raptors — Gave the full amount to Maceo Baston
2006/07
- Pistons — Gave full amount to Ronald Murray
- Clippers — Gave full amount to Aaron Williams
- Lakers — Gave full amount to Shammond Williams
- Knicks — Gave a prorated amount to Randolph Morris2
- Sixers — Gave a partial amount to Shavlik Randolph
- Kings — Gave a partial amount to Loren Woods
- There are conflicting reports over whether the Timberwolves used the bi-annual exception for Turiaf's deal. See the introduction above.
- The bi-annual exception begins to prorate downward on January 10th. Ilgauskas and Morris signed after that date.
Storytellers Contracts and ShamSports were used in the creation of this post.
Knicks, Grizzlies In Talks For Delonte West
The Knicks and Grizzlies have engaged in talks about bringing free agent guard Delonte West aboard, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Neither team has made an offer, and while Haynes hears the talks are still preliminary, they've begun to ramp up, Haynes writes.
West didn't play in the NBA this past season after his behavior in Mavs training camp prompted the team to cut him. West signed with the D-League's Texas Legends, but it took him several weeks to report to the team, and he averaged just 10.3 points and 4.4 assists in eight games with the squad.
The 30-year-old former first-round pick has an advocate for his case to join the Grizzlies. Tony Allen doesn't want to interfere with Grizzlies management, but he says he'd "love to have" West join the team, as Brandon Speck of Fox Sports Tennessee writes. Still, the Knicks are limited to giving him the minimum, and I'd be surprised if the Grizzlies or any other team offered him any more than that.
International Rumors: Brown, White, Gelabale
NBA opportunities are dwindling for free agents, allowing clubs from overseas to jump into the game. Here's the latest international news on players with NBA ties:
- A Chinese team has offered Bobby Brown a deal that would net him $1.2MM, reports Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com. Agent Aaron Mintz has met with the Knicks, and though New York can only give him a minimum-salary deal, Brown has told Zwerling he'd prefer the Knicks to China (Twitter links).
- Former Knicks small forward James White has drawn interest from China as well, and he's still thinking about signing to play there, Zwerling tweets.
- A source tells Sportando's Emiliano Carchia that Mickael Gelabale will sign with Russian team BC Khimki (Twitter link). Shams Charania of RealGM.com tweeted earlier today that Gelabale was set to finalize a lucrative deal overseas. The 30-year-old swingman returned this past season to the NBA after an absence of nearly five years, but interest from NBA teams dissapated this summer, prompting him to return overseas, according to Charania (Twitter link).
- Charania noted in his tweet that Gelabale wouldn't sign with Olympiacos in Greece, as Lefteris Moutis of Eurohoops.net reported. One part of Moutis' report appears to be true, however, as Carchia hears that Olympiacos is no longer likely to sign Cartier Martin, who appeared this week to be close to a deal with the club (Twitter link). Martin spent 2012/13 with the Wizards.
- Agent Alexander Raskovic tells Carchia that Vladimir Radmanovic is still intent on remaining in the NBA and won't return to Europe this season. Raskovic said as much in June, and it doesn't appear that a lack of an NBA deal nearly a month into free agency has prompted Radmanovic to change his mind.
Pacers Acquire Luis Scola From Suns
2:31pm: The Suns have also confirmed that the trade is official, via their website.
2:06pm: The Pacers have announced the trade in a press release.
"I’m very, very excited to play for the Pacers," Scola said, as part of the Pacers statement. "They are one of the top three teams in the NBA with a good shot to win a championship. I think it’s a great team and this is a great opportunity. I can’t wait."
1:39pm: The Pacers and Suns have reached an agreement on a trade that sends Luis Scola to Indiana, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. Paul Coro notes that the framework of the deal, reported earlier by Amick and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, will send Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and Indiana's lottery-protected 2014 first-round draft pick to Phoenix in exchange for Scola (Twitter link).
The move strengthens the Pacers as they attempt to overcome the Heat, who've knocked them out of the playoffs the past two seasons. Scola will be of particular help on the offensive end, where he's a career 14.2 points-per-game scorer, and he'll improve a second-unit that lagged far behind Indiana's starting lineup last season. The Suns claimed him off amnesty waivers from the Rockets last summer, and the inexpensive bid helped faciliate the deal with Indiana. Scola will make more than $4.5MM this year, with a non-guaranteed $4.868MM in 2014/15.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough reunites with Green, whom the Celtics drafted 18th overall in 2005, when McDonough was beginning to work his way up Boston's front office chain of command. Green will make $3.5MM this year and next as part of a three-year contract he signed with the Pacers last summer, before he wound up buried on coach Frank Vogel's bench. Plumlee, the 26th overall pick in 2012, was even farther down the Pacers depth chart, appearing in more D-League games (15) than NBA contests (14) last season.
The jewel of the deal for Phoenix appears to be the pick, which will almost certainly be at the back end of the first round. Still, the Suns are in line for three first-rounders in next year's talent-rich draft, including their own, as SB Nation's Paul Flannery points out (Twitter link). Sending the 33-year-old Scola out will allow the team to develop more of its young talent, and perhaps shave a few wins from its total, giving the team a better chance at the top overall pick.
Pacers Nearing Trade For Luis Scola
1:34pm: Green, Miles Plumlee, and a protected 2014 draft pick are the parts headed to Phoenix in the proposal, Wojnarowski tweets. USA Today's Sam Amick tweets that the pick is lottery protected. Marc Stein of ESPN.com notes that the deal is still a proposal at this point, so it looks like a formal agreement has not yet been reached (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 12:56am: The "early word" is that the Pacers will send Gerald Green and draft considerations to Phoenix in exchange for Scola, Stein reports. The teams are still discussing the specifics of the picks headed Phoenix's way (Twitter links).
FRIDAY, 10:50pm: The Suns and Pacers are having "serious" talks about a trade that would ship Luis Scola to Indiana, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The teams are close to an agreement, Wojnarowski also tweets, but the deal won't involve Danny Granger, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
The Pacers have been pursuing Scola for weeks, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), though both front offices have been keeping the news quiet. The Pacers re-signed starting power forward David West this summer, and they also brought in Chris Copeland. Centers Roy Hibbert and Ian Mahinmi are on long-term deals, so there wouldn't seem to be an immediate fit for Scola, unless one of Indiana's big men is headed to Phoenix.
As Stein notes, the news originated in Scola's native Argentina, where Juan Sebastia, Scola's publicist, tweets tonight that Scola is headed to the Pacers, and that the deal will become official Saturday. Scola is set to make a little more than $4.5MM this season, with a non-guaranteed $4.868MM on the books for 2014/15. The Suns are under the cap, but the Pacers are over it, so Indiana would have to give up about $3MM in salary to make the deal work if Scola is the only player Phoenix is giving up.
The Pacers could make a straight-up acquisition of Scola work with either Mahinmi or Gerald Green, or they could aggregate the salaries of Lance Stephenson, Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson. West and Copeland are ineligible to be traded until the middle of next season because they signed new deals this summer.
The 33-year-old Scola has been remarkably durable in his six-year NBA career, missing just eight regular season games, all of them in 2010/11. His minutes declined somewhat last year in his first season with the Suns, who claimed him off amnesty waivers after the Rockets cut him in a cap-clearing move. He notched 12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 26.6 minutes per game in 2012/13, with a 16.7 PER that's nearly identical to his career mark of 16.9.
Odds & Ends: Nash, Oden, Henderson, Cousins
Italian soccer power Inter Milan will give Steve Nash a tryout next week, as Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press writes, but it's clear that even after a frustrating season with the Lakers, the two-time MVP won't be giving up on basketball anytime soon. He expressed his eagerness to return to the hardwood even as he prepared to lace up his cleats. We're only about two months away from the start of training camps as we pass along the latest from a whirlwind summer:
- Greg Oden could decide on his next team by as early as Monday, reports Steve Aschburner of NBA.com, who adds the Mavs to the list of teams that have sent contingents to Indianapolis to watch Oden work out this week. The Spurs, Pelicans, Hawks, Kings and Heat are the others on that list.
- Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson are on board with the Pelicans' pursuit of Oden, as they tell Shams Charania of RealGM.com.
- Though the Bobcats were reported to be seeking sign-and-trade options at one point in their negotiations with Gerald Henderson, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets that the team always planned to re-sign him. The two sides agreed to a deal tonight.
- DeMarcus Cousins and his representatives met with the Kings multiple times recently in Las Vegas, and the team is making it clear that he's a priority, a source tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
- A lucrative, long-term extension for the volatile Cousins might not strike Kings fans as the wisest move, but SB Nation's Tom Ziller argues that, at worst, there will be plenty of teams eager to trade for Cousins if the Kings eventually want to get rid of him.
- The Mavs have been talking up their summer acquisitions, but HoopsWorld's Bill Ingram isn't nearly as optimistic, opining in his NBA PM piece that Dirk Nowitzki's supporting cast has never been weaker.
Poll: Which Team Improved The Most?
There wasn't much change at the trade deadline this year, but the summer has been one of drastic moves for many NBA teams. The Nets traded for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, Dwight Howard left the Lakers for the Rockets, and the Warriors found a way out of their luxury tax predicament that allowed them to add Andre Iguodala and still shed payroll.
There are plenty of other teams who look better than when the 2012/13 season ended. The Cavs signed Andrew Bynum to a partially guaranteed deal that hedges against further injury for the former All-Star, and they added Anthony Bennett, the No. 1 pick in the draft. The Pelicans pulled off a draft-night trade to land Jrue Holiday, and they signed Tyreke Evans to an offer sheet that was too rich for the Kings' blood. The Trail Blazers addressed their bench, their major weakness from this past season, the Pistons wooed Josh Smith to Detroit, and the moribund Bobcats used some of their plentiful room for improvement, signing Al Jefferson.
Let us know which team you think made the greatest strides forward this summer, and leave a comment to explain your vote.
Which Team Improved The Most?
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Nets 28% (597)
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Cavaliers 15% (328)
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Rockets 13% (282)
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Pelicans 13% (272)
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Warriors 12% (267)
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Other 9% (195)
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Pistons 5% (106)
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Bobcats 3% (67)
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Trail Blazers 2% (53)
Total votes: 2,167
Lakers Rumors: Odom, Landry, Daye
- Kevin Ding of the Orange County register hears that Lamar Odom might be warming to the idea of playing for the Lakers again. The team isn't high on him, so a reunion is unlikely, Ding tweets.
- Before news broke today of the Lakers' agreement with Elias Harris, Ding wrote that the team wanted to sign two more players this summer to partially guaranteed deals for the minimum salary. The Lakers are targeting players from its summer league roster, like Harris, and overlooked veterans (Sulia link).
- The Harris deal didn't shock Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, who believes summer league participant Marcus Landry could be the next to sign with the Lakers (Twitter link).
- The Lakers have been interested in Austin Daye, who worked out for the team this week, but Pincus gets the sense that the team wasn't enthralled with what it saw (Twitter link).
Latest On Marcus Camby
Marcus Camby scored a total of 42 points over the 24 games he played for the Knicks this past season, so that alone would make it difficult to understand why the 39-year-old is generating so much chatter less than a month into free agency. Teams appear to be focusing more on his production in 2011/12, when he averaged 9.0 rebounds in just 22.9 minutes per game. Here's what we know:
- The Bulls met with Camby on Friday, and Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com hears the talks are going "extremely well." He's telling teams he intends to go into coaching after he's done playing, echoing a report from earlier this month indicating he wanted to play two more years and then coach.
- Camby recently met with Rockets doctors and passed a physical, as Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston reports. Agent Rick Kaplan told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle a couple of days ago that the Rockets were at the "top of his list" (Twitter link).
- Multiple reports show Camby is also considering the Heat, though Miami is showing less interest in him than Houston and Chicago are, tweets Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida.