Odds & Ends: Howard, Nets, Blazers
It was yet another night of fevered Dwight Howard rumors, as he reiterated his trade demands in a meeting with Magic GM Rob Hennigan and assistant GM Scott Perry. One of the bombshells amidst a flurry of reports was that the Mavericks are the "overwhelming favorite" to sign Howard if he becomes a free agent next summer. That makes a trade more difficult, as Wojnarowski writes, since other teams now know Howard has a soft spot for Dallas. Chris Mannix of SI.com says Howard would re-sign with the Lakers or Nets if traded there, but otherwise plans to become a Maverick (Twitter link). Zach Lowe of SI.com points out, with an assist from Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com, that the Mavs would have to clear some cap room for 2013/14 in order to make a maximum offer for Howard (All four Twitter links). Here's more from the Association this evening:
- Nets GM Billy King doesn't consider signing a backup center a priority after missing out on Nazr Mohammed, reports Fred Kerber of the New York Post, who adds that the team's offseason work is likely done.
- Jason Quick of The Oregonian takes an in-depth look at the finalists for the Blazers head coaching job.
- Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com does the math and determines the Magic own a pair of trade exceptions: $2.75MM left over from the Brandon Bass trade expiring December 12th, and $4.35MM from the trade that sent Ryan Anderson away, expiring next summer.
- Michael Lee of The Washington Post spoke with Cartier Martin, who recently re-signed with the Wizards. Martin is the only Wizard left on the roster from before Washington took John Wall with the No. 1 pick 2011, as Lee notes.
- A veteran NBA doctor tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork that 75% of players require some kind of procedure on their knees at the end of the season, and many of them keep it a secret (Twitter link).
- Obrad Fimic, the agent for Russian guard Alexey Shved, said the Nets showed no interest in his client despite being owned by fellow Russian Mikhail Prokhorov, tweets Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Shved finalized his three year, $10MM deal with the Wolves today.
- Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star argues retaining assistant coach Brian Shaw is the best move the Pacers have made this offseason.
Grizzlies Targeting Centers
Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace revealed his plan for the team's next move, saying, "If we add another player it’s more likely to be a center with size," Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link). Connecting the dots, that seems to indicate the Grizzles want to re-sign Hamed Haddadi, a move Tillery said yesterday that the team was targeting, though that's just my speculation.
A look at Hoops Rumors list of unrestricted free agents, updated today, reveals little in the way of helpful size. Mehmet Okur is likely the best of the bunch, but injury limited him to just 17 games last season, and back trouble was reportedly was a factor in his release by the Blazers in March. A report last week linked Darko Milicic to four teams, none of which were the Grizzlies. Jermaine O'Neal and Joel Przybilla are two other possibilities. With Robin Lopez off the market, there aren't any more restricted free agent centers to go after.
According to Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com, the Grizzlies are above the tax threshold even after trading Jeremy Pargo today, with $73.05MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season. So, it's unlikely they'll look to sign anyone else for more than the veteran's minimum. With a solid big-man rotation of Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Darrell Arthur and Marreese Speights, I'd argue they don't have to sign a backup center at all.
Northwest Rumors: Blazers, Lillard, Stiemsma
It's been a busy day for the Timberwolves, who finalized their deal with Alexey Shved, and agreed to a three-team deal that appears to clear the way for an agreement with Andrei Kirilenko. They're also likely to put the finishing touches on contracts for Brandon Roy and Greg Stiemsma by next week, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Wednesday was active for the Trail Blazers, too, as we heard they've narrowed their list of head coaching candidates. We've got more on both Northwest Division teams right here:
- Suns coach Alvin Gentry did some campaigning for assistant Elston Turner, a finalist for the Blazers head coaching job, complimenting his work with young players and his acumen both offensively and defensively, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. "After watching that kid (Damian) Lillard run the screen-and-roll, what better guy to have around than a guy who coached Steve Nash?'' Gentry said (All four Twitter links).
- Gentry also had high praise for Lillard, the sixth overall pick by the Blazers in last month's draft, saying, "That kid is going to be great,'' as Quick tweets.
- Greg Stiemsma reflected on his time in Boston, telling the Boston Herald he would have liked to return, but felt compelled to get the best financial deal for he and his family. The Celtics didn't have the cap space or exceptions needed to come close to the $3MM offer he agreed to with the Wolves.
Latest On Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum
9:43pm: SI.com's Chris Mannix suggests the Magic, who league executives believe are determined not to cave into Howard's demands, may prefer to wait to make a move until after January 15th, when trading for Brook Lopez once again becomes a possibility. That would give the Magic a chance to see how Lopez has healed from his broken foot, Mannix says.
8:59pm: The Magic didn't really try to convince Howard to stay in today's meeting, as Hennigan simply saw it as an opportunity to build trust, Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel reports. Hennigan and the other Magic officials didn't talk to Howard about their head coaching search, Robbins adds. (Twitter links). The Magic expected Howard to reiterate his trade demands, however, and the team isn't deterred from its plan, ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reports via Ramona Shelburne (Twitter link).
8:41pm: Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com has details on the meeting between Howard and Hennigan, reporting that Hennigan, just hired this summer to replace Otis Smith, expressed a desire to get to know D12, while Howard wanted to see his plan for improving the team and was disappointed not to find out about it during the hour-long meeting. Hennigan told Howard he didn't have any trade in the works and wasn't sure how to respond to what Howard was telling him. Other teams are getting frustrated with the Magic's half-hearted attempts to trade Howard, and Wojnarowski reports the Magic are looking for strong package in return, similar to what the Nuggets got for Carmelo Anthony (Twitter link).
8:29pm: The Mavs are the "overwhelming favorite" to sign Howard if he winds up in free agency next summer, Wojnarowski hears, adding that Howard's camp has consistently warned the Rockets not to trade for him, with the threat of moving to their in-state rivals (Twitter links).
8:26pm: Chris Mannix of SI.com hears Howard would be open to re-signing with the Lakers after the season (Twitter link). Howard expressed his curiousity to Hennigan about why the Magic didn't make a trade while other stars, like Joe Johnson and Steve Nash, were on the move, Wojnarowski tweets.
8:19pm: Dwight Howard, in his meeting with Magic GM Rob Hennigan and Magic officials, gave the team three options: an immediate trade to the Lakers, a midseason trade to the Nets, or a clean break next summer, Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM tweets.
Meanwhile, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has left the door open to trading for Dwight Howard, writes Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Shelburne hears the Lakers' stance hasn't changed, as they still believe a year with the Lakers would convince Howard to re-sign with the team next summer even if he's unwilling to make a long-term commitment to the team now. Still, the Lakers are unwilling to take on other lucrative deals the Magic want to include in a Howard trade. Shelburne also reports that Andrew Bynum's agent, David Lee, says he has not spoken with Kupchak about an extension for his client, refuting Kupchak's comments to the contrary.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports hears that the fact the Magic have waited so long to pull the trigger on a deal has hurt their offers (Twitter link).
7:55pm: Howard reiterated to Hennigan tonight that he doesn't want to stay in Orlando, and said he'll leave as a free agent next summer if the Magic refuse to trade him, Jarrod Rudolph of RealGM.com reports. Still, Hennigan is in no rush to move Howard without "acceptable compensation" in return (All four Twitter links).
List Of Signed Offer Sheets Since 2008
Teams have a variety of avenues to retain their restricted free agents. They can wait for other teams to sign them to an offer sheet and match or negotiate their own long-term deal with the player. They can even convince the player to sign for his qualifying offer, though few restricted free agents have done that throughout the years, as we've documented.
With all the different means available for teams to re-sign their own players, restricted free agency usually tilts in favor of a player's original team, but once an offer sheet is signed, it's basically a 50-50 proposition whether the team will match, as recent data shows. So far this year, five players have signed offer sheets, two of which have been matched. Of the 26 offer sheets signed since 2008, 12 of them have been matched. Here’s a year-by-year look at those offer sheets, with the ones that teams declined to match in bold.
Grizzlies Trade Jeremy Pargo To Cavs
The Grizzlies have sent Jeremy Pargo, a 2014 second-round pick and cash to the Cavs for D.J. Kennedy, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reports (Twitter link). Pargo is entering the final season of a two-year, $2MM contract, and his $1MM is guaranteed for 2012/13. Kennedy has two more seasons on his deal at the minimum salary, both of which are non-guaranteed. The Cavs put out a press release on their website confirming the move.
"Our approach remains consistent as we try to bring in young talent, create future opportunity with draft picks as potential assets and maintain flexibility," Cavs GM Chris Grant said in the release. "Jeremy adds depth to our backcourt. He is a young, aggressive, athletic guard who we feel fits well with our style of play, both defensively and offensively. We look forward to welcoming him to Cleveland."
Pargo, the younger brother of Jannero Pargo, made his NBA debut for the Grizzlies last season after going undrafted out of Gonzaga in 2009. He averaged 2.9 points and 1.3 assists in 9.6 minutes a game as a backup to point guard Mike Conley. The 6'6" Kennedy wasn't drafted last year out of St. John's, but caught on with the Cavs in the final week of the season and played in two games, scoring 12 points and pulling down seven rebounds in a total of 59 minutes. Kennedy spent most of the season in the D-League, putting up 15.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, and 4.4 APG in 37.4 MPG.
The Grizzlies are close to the luxury tax threshold of $70.31MM, so the deal might be a way for them to save money, since they could waive Kennedy without owing him anything. The Cavs have plenty of cap room to absorb the $1MM owed Pargo, and helps them at point guard, where the team is thin behind starter Kyrie Irving.
Jordan Hill Re-Signs With Lakers
JULY 25th, 5:09pm: The Lakers have officially announced the signing, according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com (Twitter link).
JULY 20th, 7:59pm: Power forward Jordan Hill has reached an agreement to re-sign with the Lakers on a two-year deal worth nearly $8MM, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). Bradbury said Thursday the Timberwolves were "right there" with the Lakers in the competition for Hill's services, but apparently the Lakers won out, helped by their status as a title contender.
"Jordan was excited about the fact that Steve Nash decided to join the Lakers and the prospect of winning a championship in LA," Bradbury said to Wojnarowski (Twitter link).
Wednesday, a report by Ramona Shelburne and Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com suggested the Lakers would turn their attention to re-signing Hill and extending the contract of Andrew Bynum if they were to back off trade talks for Dwight Howard, but it's unclear exactly what bringing back Hill means for a Howard-to-L.A. deal.
The Lakers are limited to paying Hill no more than $3,632,527 for 2012/13, believed to be the value of the team option in his previous contract. The Rockets declined that option long before a midseason trade that sent him to the Lakers. Teams are prohibited from re-signing players to contracts that would give the player a higher salary in a season than what he would have earned if his option had not been declined. Bradbury told David Aldridge of TNT that Hill turned down larger offers to return to the Lakers (Twitter link).
Hill averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds a game with a 15.8 PER last season with the Rockets and Lakers, coming to L.A. in a midseason trade. He appeared in only seven regular season games for the Lakers, but played in all 12 playoff games, leading all postseason performers in offensive rebounding percentage.
The Wolves, who've missed out on other targets like Nicolas Batum and Courtney Lee of late, seem poised to shift their focus to Celtics restricted free agent Greg Stiemsma, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
Suns Sign Shannon Brown
WEDNESDAY, 3:33pm: Brown has officially signed his contract with the Suns, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
FRIDAY, 5:08pm: Shannon Brown has agreed to re-sign with the Suns, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report by Vince Marotta of Arizona Sports. The deal is for $7MM over two seasons, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports that only half of his second-year salary is guaranteed (Twitter link).
Earlier this week we passed along a report from Gary Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times that Brown was close to signing with a mystery team. He speculated that the team might have been the Bucks, but it appears it was Phoenix all along. Brown said in May that he was interested in returning to the team, but wanted a multiyear deal. He wound up getting two seasons after signing a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the team last year.
Brown averaged 11.0 points on 42.0% shooting last season, compiling a 13.6 PER and starting 19 games. That was enough to keep Brown's salary at the same rate for next season and give him at least a bit of the long-term security he wanted, while allowing the Suns to maintain the flexibility to go after a major free agent next offseason.
Knicks Sign Pablo Prigioni
JULY 24TH, 1:47pm: The Knicks have officially signed Prigioni, the team announced today (Twitter link via Jonah Ballow of NYKnicks.com).
JULY 11TH, 7:32pm: Prigioni's contract will be for the rookie minimum of $473,604, Zwerling writes. He'll likely be the team's third string point guard behind Jeremy Lin and Jason Kidd.
6:18pm: The Knicks have reached an agreement on a one-year deal with Spanish league point guard Pablo Prigioni, Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com confirms via Twitter. The 35-year-old has been "on the radar" of Knicks GM Glen Grunwald for the last five years, Zwerling says. The team has been linked to Prigioni at various times during the summer. Marc Berman of the New York Post initially heard from Prigioni's agent, George Bass, that the agreement had been struck (Twitter link).
Mavericks Sign Jared Cunningham
The Mavericks have signed 24th overall pick Jared Cunningham, the team has announced. Terms weren't disclosed, but if he signs for 120% of his rookie scale amount, as most first-round draft picks do, he'll make a first-year salary of $1,156,320.
The 6'5" shooting guard averaged 17.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists, and made 45.0% of his shots from the floor in his junior season at Oregon State in 2011/12.