Heat Pursuing Rashard Lewis
The Heat have had multiple conversations with Tony Dutt, the agent for Rashard Lewis, about bringing the 6'10" long-range shooter aboard with the NBA champions, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports. Dutt says money is not a primary issue for his client, who will receive the $13.7MM guaranteed portion of his contract for next season after he was waived by the Hornets this weekend.
Bulls Rumors: Hinrich, Asik, Roy, Fisher, Lucas
In case you missed it amidst tonight's flurry of free agent rumors, the Bulls are making Kirk Hinrich their top free agent target, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune tweets. Johnson has more in a full report, adding that Hinrich will command most, if not all, of the team's $3MM mini mid-level exception. Hinrich may not be altogether exciting for Bulls fans, but they haven't stopped their pursuit of others, including Brandon Roy, and GM Gar Forman left open the possibility the team could match the Rockets' backloaded offer for Omer Asik, which will be officially tendered on July 11th. "I'm not going to talk about any type of negotiation or anything contractually until we see something," the GM said. "We've made it clear we value Omer and it's been our goal that Omer would stay with the Bulls." Johnson has more out of Chicago, and we've got the highlights here:
Suns Rumors: Gordon, Dragic, Nash
The Suns have been notable in recent years for the way their training staff has perpetuated the careers of Steve Nash and Grant Hill. They may not have as many aging bodies to work with next season, though, as several other teams are chasing Nash, and Hill is drawing plenty of interest as well. When Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors previewed Phoenix's offseason in May, he said that if Nash leaves, the Suns might be best served by saving their ample cap space for the future and focusing on building through the draft for now. Still, the Suns appear to have significant free agent targets, including Eric Gordon and Goran Dragic, and there's more news on them tonight.
- The Suns are considering making a maximum four-year, $58MM offer to Gordon, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets.
Earlier updates:
Clippers To Make Offers To Crawford, Billups
The Clippers, who'll meet Tuesday with Jamal Crawford, plan to make him an offer for the $5MM mid-level exception, and will offer Chauncey Billups a one-year, $4MM contract, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The team is also eyeing center Ryan Hollins.
Kings Meet With Ryan Anderson
8:40pm: Petrie reiterated to Jones that Thompson remains his top priority, saying the team has made him an offer and added that he can envision Anderson sliding over to play small forward for the team (Sulia link).
7:32pm: The Kings met with restricted free agent Ryan Anderson today, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Jones opines the three-point sharpshooter, who attended high school in the Sacramento area, would make sense for the Kings (Twitter link). With Anderson in town and Thomas Robinson, another power forward, arriving through the draft, Jason Thompson is taking a "wait-and-see" approach to re-signing with the Kings.
Thunder Retain Scott Brooks
The Thunder and coach Scott Brooks have finalized a new four-year deal with coach Scott Brooks, the team announced. It's a four-year deal worth about $18MM, reports Royce Young of DailyThunder.com. The team will hold a press conference to announce the signing Tuesday.
Bobcats Waive Jamario Moon
The Bobcats have waived Jamario Moon, according to Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). The athletic small forward played in eight games, averaging 2.3 points and 2.8 rebounds, after signing with the Bobcats in April. Moon had a non-guaranteed contract with the team for the minimum salary in 2012/13. Unless a team clears in off waivers in the next seven days, he'll become an unrestricted free agent.
Warriors Dropping Out Of Dwight Howard Race
We're following all of the day's Dwight Howard rumors right here, but the news out of Golden State is worthy of its own post. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob said today that he doesn't expect the team to go after Dwight Howard via trade, as Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com writes.
Nets, Hawks Discussing Joe Johnson Trade
MONDAY, 4:04pm: Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star Ledger is hearing that a deal that would send Johnson to the Nets is "pretty much done," he says via Twitter.
SUNDAY,11:06pm: The Nets are now offering Jordan Farmar, Johan Petro, Anthony Morrow, Jordan Williams, DeShawn Stevenson (via sign-and-trade) and a future first-round pick for Johnson, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Sources say that the Nets are insisting that the trade includes at least one of their free agents via sign-and-trade – Stevenson or Gerald Green – in hopes of staying over the salary cap and keeping their MLE.
Stein adds that the Nets will only go ahead with the deal if it means keeping Deron Williams in Brooklyn.
The Nets would have to sign-and-trade Stevenson at a low number in order to make the numbers match up, tweets John Hollinger of ESPN.com.
9:45pm: The Nets are still trying to get a trade done for Johnson and hoping to get it resolved by mid-week, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
Earl Clark Exercises Player Option With Magic
SUNDAY, 12:53pm: Clark changed his mind on his option and informed the Magic on Friday that he has decided to opt in, according to Alex Kennedy (Twitter links). The move will put him on Orlando's books for $1.24MM next season.
THURSDAY, 2:08pm: Magic backup big man Earl Clark is declining his $1.24MM option for next season and will become an unrestricted free agent, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports, via Twitter. Clark signed a two-year, $2.4MM deal before the season that included the option. The Magic acquired Clark, a former 14th overall pick by the Suns, at midseason in 2010/11, but he's seen little playing time.