Cavs Plan To Keep Love If James Leaves
The Cavaliers do not plan to trade Kevin Love if they lose LeBron James in free agency this summer, according to Joe Vardon of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Cleveland intends to remain a playoff contender rather than go through a total rebuild if James signs elsewhere once he becomes an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, Vardon continues. The caveat is that no one on the roster is untouchable should James decide to stay.
Love would end up being more of a focal point in Cleveland’s offensive scheme without James. Prior to being traded to the Cavaliers after James left the Heat to return to his hometown team in 2014, Love posted big numbers with the Timberwolves. He averaged 26.1 PPG, 12.5 RPG and 4.4 APG in his last season there in 2013/14.
Love has two years remaining on his contract, though the final year includes a player option. He’s due approximately $24.1MM next season and $25.6MM in 2019/20. Love averaged 17.6 PPG and 9.3 RPG last season but was forced to the sidelines for 23 games due to a broken hand.
The Cavaliers are also interested in re-signing free agent Jeff Green and could offer him their $5,291,918 taxpayer mid-level exception, Vardon adds. Green was a solid role player while making the veteran’s minimum last season, averaging 10.8 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 78 games.
Warriors Interested In Jordan, Mavs Remain Favorites
The Warriors intend to make a run at Clippers center DeAndre Jordan in free agency despite their salary-cap restrictions, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Jordan would have to accept their $5.3MM taxpayer mid-level exception, a huge drop from the $24.1MM he left on the table when he decided to opt out on Friday. While Jordan’s salary would be modest, such a move would wind up costing the Warriors closer to $27MM due to luxury taxes, Stein notes (Twitter link). Jordan is close friends with Kevin Durant and a former client of Golden State GM Bob Myers.
Dropping Jordan, one of the league’s premier rebounders, into the Warriors’ starting five would complete a star-studded lineup and ensure they’d be championship favorites once again no matter where LeBron James winds up.
Jordan would have to sacrifice a boatload of money for the opportunity to chase a ring. The Mavericks have made Jordan their top priority and have approximately $28MM to offer him. That makes Dallas a strong favorite to land him, Stein adds (Twitter link).
The chances of Jordan returning to the Clippers, as he did during his last free agent foray in 2015, seem remote. The team even tweeted a ‘Thank You, DeAndre!’ after his opt-out decision. They acquired veteran center Marcin Gortat from the Wizards earlier this week.
Jabari Parker Receives Qualifying Offer From Bucks
JUNE 30th, 8:09am: The qualifying offers to Parker, Plumlee and Munford have officially been made, according to the RealGM transactions log.
JUNE 29th, 4:37pm: The Bucks have extended a qualifying offer to forward Jabari Parker, making him a restricted free agent, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets.
The qualifying offer of $4,333,932 comes as no surprise despite Parker’s star-crossed career in which he’s suffered two major knee injuries. He returned from his latest one to play in 31 games last season, including three starts. He averaged 12.6 PPG, 4.9 RPG and 1.9 APG in 24.0 MPG and should be poised to contribute more with a full training camp under his best this fall.
Parker posted averaged of 20.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG and 2.8 APG in 51 games during the 2016/17 season before he tore his left ACL in early February.
It will be interesting to see if the No. 2 overall pick in the 2014 draft received a substantial offer sheet despite his injury history. Parker is still just 23 years old after completing four seasons in the league.
The Bucks also extended qualifying offers to their two-way players from last season, center Marshall Plumlee and point guard Xavier Munford, making them restricted free agents.
Rockets Extend Qualifying Offer To Clint Capela
The Rockets extended a qualifying offer to center Clint Capela, making him a restricted free agent, Keith Smith of RealGM tweets.
Capela’s qualifying offer is worth $4,749,591. The move was a mere formality, since Capela has emerged as their most important frontcourt component.
Capela averaged 13.9 PPG, 10.8 RPG and 1.9 BPG in his fourth season. He was a finalist for the league’s Most Improved Player award.
The Rockets might have an easier time than expected locking up Capela. There aren’t many teams who are both looking for a center and have enough cap room to put together a serious offer sheet. The Mavericks, who are in the market for a quality big man, have their sights set on DeAndre Jordan. The Suns were a possibility until they drafted Deandre Ayton.
The Rockets also gave two-way player Markel Brown a qualifying offer, making the 6’3” guard a restricted free agent as well.
Robert Pack Agrees To Join Wizards’ Staff
Robert Pack has agreed to join the Wizards as an assistant to Scott Brooks, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Pack has been an assistant coach with the Pelicans since the 2015/16 season. He’s also coached with the Clippers and Thunder after beginning his coaching career with New Orleans in 2009.
Pack should be a good influence on Wizards star guard John Wall, David Aldridge of NBA.com tweets. Pack, 49, had a long NBA career than began in 1991 and included stops with seven different franchises.
Blazers Won’t Give Shabazz Napier Qualifying Offer
The Trail Blazers will not extend a qualifying offer to point guard Shabazz Napier, making him an unrestricted free agent, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets.
It’s somewhat surprising the Blazers would not make the qualifying offer for a rotation player, given it was a modest $3,452,308, Portland did add 19-year-old guard Anfernee Simons in the draft, so perhaps it feels Simons can step into that role. Portland is well over the cap and the decision to let Napier walk could also help it avoid the luxury-tax threshold.
Napier, who led the University of Connecticut to the 2014 championship, has also played for the Heat and Magic. He had his best season as a pro in his second year with Portland, averaging 8.7 PPG and 2.2 APG in 20.7 MPG while appearing in 74 games, including nine starts.
Mavs Decline Nowitzki’s Option, Will Offer New Deal
The Mavericks will decline Dirk Nowitzki‘s $5MM team option in order to open up more salary-cap space, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets. Dallas plans to work out a new contract with Nowitzki, who mutually agreed to the decision, Stein adds.
This will give the Mavericks more wiggle room to pursue free agents, with DeAndre Jordan at the top of their wish list after he decided to opt out of his contract with the Clippers.
Dallas could have as much as $28-30MM in cap space, salary-cap enthusiast Albert Nahmad tweets.
Nowitzki has said he’d like to play at least one more season. Among the ways the Mavericks could re-sign him is by using their room-level exception, which is projected at $4.4MM in the first year of the contract.
Magic To Guarantee Khem Birch’s Contract
The Magic have decided to guarantee center Khem Birch‘s $1.38MM contract for next season, Michael Scotto of The Athletic tweets.
Birch, an undrafted 25-year-old Canadian native, was a pleasant surprise in an otherwise dreary season for Orlando. The 6’9” Birch saw action in 42 games and averaged 4.2 PPG and 4.3 RPG in 13.8 MPG.
Birch, who played for UNLV for two seasons, began his pro career in the G League and then moved on to Turkey and Greece. Orlando signed him last summer.
He’ll be the team’s No. 3 center behind Nikola Vucevic and Bismack Biyombo unless one of those high-salaried big men is dealt.
DeAndre Jordan To Opt Out, Become Free Agent
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan will opt out of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent on Sunday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Jordan can negotiate a long-term contract with the Mavericks, who were engaged in trade talks with the Clippers to acquire him if he opted in. Dallas was unwilling to give up draft picks in a potential trade and preferred to pursue the veteran big man in free agency, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.
Jordan’s decision to leave $24.1MM on the table still doesn’t give the Clippers a large amount of cap space. In fact, as Bobby Marks of ESPN points out, the maximum amount of room they could open up is $13.6MM but they’d have to waive two point guards, Milos Teodosic and Patrick Beverley, to make that happen. If the Clippers stay over the cap, they’d still their $8.6MM mid-level and $3.4MM bi-annual exceptions at their disposal.
However, they could have as much as $60MM in cap space next summer, Marks adds in another tweet.
Of course, the Mavericks have been down this road before with one of the league’s premier rebounders. Jordan, who averaged 12.0 and a career-best 15.2 RPG last season, famously reneged on a verbal agreement with Dallas in the summer of 2015 to remain in L.A. However, the Mavericks are intent on getting a premier center and probably won’t have a lot of competition to get him to sign the dotted line the second time around.
Sixers Swingman Justin Anderson Undergoes Leg Surgery
Sixers swingman Justin Anderson underwent surgery on his left leg Friday to address recurring tibial stress syndrome, according to a team release.
He will be re-evaluated in two weeks and once again in 6-8 weeks. The team will provide another update after the second re-evaluation.
Anderson came off the bench in 38 games last season, his third in the league. He averaged 6.2 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 13.7 MPG. Anderson began his career with the Mavericks after being selected with the No. 21 overall pick in 2015.
Anderson is still on his rookie contract and has an approximate $2.5MM guarantee next season.