Pacific Notes: Lin, Kings, Sterlings
The Lakers have finally acquired Jeremy Lin after two failed attempts to land the point guard in recent years, writes Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. At the veteran’s introductory press conference, Los Angeles GM Mitch Kupchak told reporters including McMenamin, “The first thing I said to [Lin] when he sat down was, ‘You know, three times is a charm.'” Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Quincy Acy‘s contract was set to become fully guaranteed tomorrow, but the Kings have been granted an extension to make their decision on the small forward’s fate until August 15, reports Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (on Twitter). The deadline extension, presumably granted by Acy and his management, will give Sacramento more time to explore their options to keep the 23-year-old while avoiding the luxury tax.
- A Sacramento judge is set to make a final ruling against a citizen-led attempt to block construction of the new Kings arena, reports Dale Kasler and Ryan Lillis of The Sacramento Bee. The judge issued a temporary rejection of the lawsuit today, which is the last remaining legal barrier to the arena, which was initially approved in May.
- Donald Sterling attorney Max Blecher accused commissioner Adam Silver of having given Shelly Sterling the idea that she should take full control of the family trust to facilitate the sale of the Clippers, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com details.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Rumors: Harrington, Wiggins, Love
The Wizards would like to have Al Harrington back, and the matter of whether he plays for the team next year is essentially up to him, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com. The 34-year-old has decided to play in the NBA next season after contemplating retirement. More from the Eastern Conference:
- Andrew Wiggins‘ name has come up in trade talks with the Wolves, but the Cavs haven’t offered him as part of any proposal for a Kevin Love trade, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio. That nuanced accounting of the discussions might illuminate some of the conflicting reports about Cleveland’s true willingness to part with the No. 1 pick.
- Terry Pluto of The Plain Dealer thinks the Cavs shouldn’t trade for Love unless they receive full assurance that he will commit for at least two years to the team, considering how difficult it would be to transition from a young, sub-.500 club to a championship contender in just one season. Love is reportedly agreeable to remaining with Cleveland alongside LeBron James, but hasn’t indicated a willingness to opt in for next season’s player option in order to delay his free agency for another year.
- The Celtics haven’t completely given up hope of landing Love, but they’re prepared to move on, a source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. That’s why Boston is among the teams trying to function as the third team in a swap that sends Love elsewhere.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Lakers Sign Ryan Kelly
MONDAY, 4:12pm: Kelly’s deal is now official, according to a tweet from the Lakers’ official account.
FRIDAY, 10:40pm: Mark Medina of Los Angeles Daily News tweets that the deal is for two years with no options.
9:37pm: The Lakers have reached an agreement with Ryan Kelly, tweets Mike Bresnahan of The Los Angeles Times. Terms of the deal are unknown, and Bresnahan guesses it’s a one or two year arrangement in a separate tweet. Kelly was a restricted agent, and the team was reportedly working on a deal aside from the $1MM qualifying offer extended to him at the beginning of free agency.
Kelly will join Wesley Johnson and Xavier Henry in returning to Los Angeles as probable reserves that saw heavy minutes for an injury-depleted Lakers squad last season. Kelly was selected by the Lakers with the 48th pick in the 2013 draft, and excelled in the D-League before getting the opportunity to play NBA minutes as a rotation piece, even starting 25 games.
The Octagon Sports client hoped to return to the Lakers, and believed the interest to be mutual. The 23-year-old averaged 8.0 PPG and 3.7 RPG with a slash line of .423/.338/.815 as a rookie stretch-four.
Hornets Sign Marvin Williams
JULY 21ST: Williams and the Hornets have made the deal official, the team announced via press release.
“He will be a key piece of our frontcourt rotation with his versatility and ability to play both forward positions,” Hornets GM Rich Cho said.
JULY 12TH: Marvin Williams has agreed to a two-year, $14MM deal with the Hornets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The team had shown steady interest in the forward throughout free agency, but negotiations were paused while the team awaited Utah’s decision to match their offer for restricted free agent Gordon Hayward. The contract doesn’t represent a raise from Williams’ five-year, $37.5MM deal that just expired in Utah, but he did fair better than the $3MM-$6MM range we gauged from similar players in our Free Agent Stock Watch profile of Williams.
Williams had drawn interest from several teams, and the Jazz were reportedly looking to bring him back to Utah. The Jazz valued the 28-year-old enough to reject a trade that offered a first round pick in exchange for the veteran this past season. The veteran will land with his third NBA team in his tenth season, replacing Charlotte’s starting power forward Josh McRoberts, who left for Miami as a free agent.
The Tandem Sports & Entertainment client performed at or below his career averages in scoring, rebounding, assists, and steals last season, but made a career-high 1.3 three-pointers per game at a 35.9% rate. The No. 2 pick from the 2005 draft hasn’t lived up to expectations since turning pro, but has established himself as a solid contributor across multiple categories. He will look to experience more team success with a Charlotte club that made the playoffs last season, something the Jazz haven’t accomplished since acquiring Williams from the Hawks in 2012.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Pacers Sign Rodney Stuckey
JULY 21ST: The Pacers and Stuckey have made the deal official, the team announced via press release.
“Rodney is a very talented player who can create and score in a variety of ways,” Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird said in the team’s statement. “We’re very happy to get a player with his experience and who has made it very clear of his desire to win.”
JULY 16TH: 8:49pm: The contract will be for the veteran’s minimum, tweets Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
7:09pm: The Pacers and Rodney Stuckey have reached agreement on a one-year contract, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (on Twitter). Indiana quickly targeted Stuckey after incumbent shooting guard Lance Stephenson departed for the Hornets earlier today. Terms of the deal aren’t known yet. Indiana cannot offer more than the veteran’s minimum unless a sign-and-trade can be worked out with Detroit.
Stuckey will move on from the Pistons, where he spent the first seven years of his career. His per-game scoring average of 13.9 in 2013/14 is comparable to that of Stephenson, but the latter’s playmaking ability far exceeds Stuckey’s, who racked up considerably fewer assists and rebounds in Detroit. Still, the Creative Artists Agency client will look to carve out a significant role within the Pacers offense, where they have been short on scoring firepower during a dominant defensive run.
Raptors Release Dwight Buycks
5:46pm: The Raptors have confirmed that they have placed Buycks on waivers via the team’s Twitter account.
4:01pm: Buycks tells David Pick of Eurobasket.com that he’s Europe bound if he’s eventually waived by Toronto (Twitter link).
10:44am: The Raptors have decided to release Dwight Buycks, reports Shams Charania of RealGM. The team will make the move before July 22nd, when his fully non-guaranteed $816,482 salary would have become fully guaranteed for 2014/15. The move has been expected since Toronto signed James Johnson on Thursday.
Toronto has three experienced point guards on the roster ahead of Buycks in Kyle Lowry, Greivis Vasquez, and Lou Williams. Buycks joins Nando De Colo and Diante Garrett as backcourt players to be moving on from Toronto this summer. Several teams are expected to pursue Buycks as a free agent, the RealGM scribe writes.
The point guard appeared in 24 games with the Raptors last season, his only time spent in the NBA. The Relativity Sports client struggled with his shot as a rookie, turning in a slash line of .313/.294/.889 in 10.4 MPG. Buycks has averaged 15.2 PPG and 2.8 APG in parts of two seasons in the D-League.
And-Ones: Wiggins, Allen, Brooks
Kobe Bryant told reporters including Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that he was happy with the Lakers offseason efforts, even though they didn’t yield a star addition like Carmelo Anthony (Twitter links). “I think [GM Mitch Kupchak] has responded quite efficiently [from missing on ‘Melo and Pau Gasol] by picking up some of the pieces he has,” said Bryant, who was not as supportive of the front office’s tactics earlier this year. Here’s more from around the league:
- Andrew Wiggins tells Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk that he’s unfazed by the rumors swirling around his name and a potential Kevin Love trade (Twitter links). “I let my agent and my support system handle [rumors]; I just love playing the game of basketball and I know the NBA is a business,” said the Cavs No. 1 pick. “I just play basketball, man, wherever I go.”
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (video link) speculates that the Cavs will ultimately wind up landing Kevin Love. Stein believes Cleveland is currently debating whether or not to sign Wiggins before a deal, since his salary would help even the trade, but would delay the process for trading him another 30 days.
- Ray Allen isn’t in a rush to make a decision on retiring or returning for another year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Knicks are considering offering Metta World Peace a training camp invite on a non-guaranteed deal to give the veteran a chance at making the team this year, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. World Peace is eager to reunite with Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher in New York after being coached and playing alongside the duo during his time in Los Angeles.
- The Bulls have renounced Kirk Hinrich in a maneuver to help provide wiggle room for Chicago’s influx of signings, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Hinrich’s agreement to re-sign with the team will be unaffected by the move.
- Free agent MarShon Brooks has hired a new agent, Wallace Prather, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The shooting guard was formerly represented by Seth Cohen of the Original Creative Representation agency.
- Brooks tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he’s trying to prove he’s an NBA player this summer, after earning a reputation as an undisciplined offense-only talent over his first three years in the league.
Bulls Close To Signing Aaron Brooks
12:47pm: The deal would indeed be for the minimum, league sources tell K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune.
12:00pm: The Bulls are close to finalizing a deal with free agent point guard Aaron Brooks, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Mutual interest was reported between Chicago and the veteran yesterday, so the talks have apparently moved swiftly. The framework for the deal is unknown, but Chicago is likely unable to offer more than the veteran’s minimum for Brooks considering their other cap commitments.
Brooks would be joining his fifth team for his seventh season in the NBA by joining Chicago. He would be a natural replacement for D.J. Augustin, who signed with the Pistons after a surprisingly solid run at the point following the re-injury of Derrick Rose last year.
At 6′, Brooks has always utilized his speed and quickness to score at a high rate. He started every game for the Rockets in 2009/10, pouring in 19.6 points a contest. While the CAA client will have to prove his ability to perform up to coach Tom Thibodeau‘s defensive expectations, he joins a bunch of Bulls newcomers that are being brought in to lift Chicago’s offensive output for next season. Stein describes Brooks’ projected role with Chicago as a scorer off the bench.
Klay Thompson Seeks Max Extension
Klay Thompson‘s agent has been seeking a max deal in extension talks with the Warriors, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. While Thompson’s name bounces around trade rumors involving Kevin Love, the Warriors starting shooting guard’s extension talks are just as relevant to his future with the team. The Warriors have been bracing for a max demand from agent Bill Duffy and the two-way shooting guard after seeing Gordon Hayward and Chandler Parsons each receive max offers as free agents this summer. Golden State has reportedly been budgeting to accommodate such a deal for Thompson, and Andrew Bogut‘s extension structure was one part of those efforts.
If the two sides aren’t able to reach an extension agreement by the early-season deadline, Thompson will become a restricted free agent for the 2015/16 season, when he would likely fetch max offers from rival teams. Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob vowed to reach an agreement with Thompson, although at least some placed his value at $12MM per season at the time, a millions below the max for a player of his experience.
Thompson has been said to be open to being traded to Minnesota, at least partially because the Wolves would have more cap room to commit to a max deal upon acquiring the 24-year-old. If Golden State’s very public refusal to give up Thompson in a deal for a perennial All-Star in Love holds up, it would only seem to help his case in negotiations. Thompson’s improvement in three years as a Warrior has accompanied the team’s increased performance as a unit. His win shares have steadily risen from 1.7 as a rookie to 6.7 in 2014/15, and his career 41% three-point shooting percentage is all the more impressive considering he has launched 6.5 long distance attempts per game.
Western Rumors: Marshall, Bledsoe, Love
Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times tweets that he doesn’t expect Kendall Marshall, whom the Lakers released yesterday, to clear waivers. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- The Lakers were pleasantly surprised to have won their amnesty claim on Carlos Boozer, tweets Bill Oram of The Orange County Register.
- Dan Bickley of USA Today thinks that Eric Bledsoe should relent on his demands for a five-year, $80MM contract with the Suns, and risks earning a poor public image if he doesn’t.
- The Warriors commitment to defense is manifesting itself in the team’s unwillingness to give up Klay Thompson in a Kevin Love trade, writes Sam Amick of USA Today. Amick notes that new coach Steve Kerr has prioritized the defensive end in choosing his assistants, and that Love’s inability to reach the players is a black eye among some league executives.
- New Hornets addition Lance Stephenson tells Candace Buckner of The Indianapolis Star that he’s surprised he didn’t remain with the Pacers. “I’m definitely surprised,” said Stephenson. “But I’m happy here. I can definitely help this program. It’s a family here. I’m definitely going to miss Larry Bird. But it’s a business, and I feel like here is more of a family. Let’s go get wins.”