Week In Review: 7/8/13 – 7/14/13
The Mavs agreed to a three-year, $9MM deal to bring Devin Harris back to Dallas, but an injury threw up a red flag and the two sides decided to call it off. Instead, the Mavs inked Monta Ellis to a three-year, $28MM deal. It's not quite Dwight, but it's definitely an upgrade for Mark Cuban & Co. Here's more from the week that was..
- Andrew Bynum and his balky knees are headed to the Cavs.
- The Pistons are trying to land Rajon Rondo.
- The Hawks matched the Bucks' offer sheet for Jeff Teague.
- The Nets signed Andrei Kirilenko to a $3.1MM deal and conspiracy theories immediately started flying.
- The Warriors agreed to sign big man Marreese Speights to a three-year, $11MM deal with a team option on the final year
- The T'Wolves got Corey Brewer.
- The Kings acquired Luc Mbah A Moute from the Bucks.
- The Cavs are out on Greg Oden, but several teams are still in the hunt.
- Tyler Hansbrough is headed north of the border after agreeing to sign with the Raptors.
- The Lakers signed Chris Kaman, bringing him back to the Staples Center.
- Metta World Peace may or may not want to return to the NBA next year after being amnestied by the Lakers.
- Dwight Howard was irked by Kobe Bryant's unwillingness to pass the torch.
- Nick Young is headed to the Lakers.
- The Lakers re-signed Robert Sacre.
- The Mavs are going after Samuel Dalembert.
- After agreeing to a deal with Kevin Martin earlier this month, the T'Wolves worked out a sign and trade with the Thunder.
- The NBA will replace Stu Jackson with Rod Thorn.
- Chris Copeland signed the Pacers' offer sheet and the Knicks can't legally match.
- The Bobcats are exploring a sign-and-trade deal with Gerald Henderson.
- Gigi Datome is joining the Pistons.
- The Nuggets and other clubs are eyeing Nate Robinson.
- The Lakers will sign Wesley Johnson.
- The Nets are eyeing Alan Anderson.
- The Spurs are likely to re-sign Gary Neal.
- Brandan Wright is likely to return to the Mavs on a deal worth $4MM per year.
- The Wizards have interest in DeJuan Blair.
- The Warriors will sign former Knick Toney Douglas as well as Jermaine O'Neal.
- The Mavs signed the well-traveled Wayne Ellington.
- The Nets won't sign Bojan Bogdanovic.
- The Pistons re-signed Will Bynum.
- Hopefully you're not drinking water while you read this. Brandon Jennings is seeking $12MM per year.
- Ellis parted ways with his agent.
- The Rockets waived a pair of bench players.
- The Heat re-signed Birdman.
- The Magic and Hedo Turkoglu are making headway on buyout talks.
- Anthony Morrow will join the Pelicans.
- The Bulls and Luol Deng are still talking extension.
- Jordan Farmer is coming back to the Lakers.
- Toronto will sign one guard Dwight Buycks.
- The Spurs made a run at AK47.
- The Rockets will sign Reggie Williams.
- The Pelicans waived Lance Thomas.
- The Pistons will welcome back Chauncey Billups.
- The Pelicans signed Greg Stiemsma.
- The Pistons cut Kim English.
- The Warriors picked up their option on Mark Jackson for 2014/15.
- Ronny Turiaf will sign with the Timberwolves.
- The Pistons won't amnesty anyone.
- The Rockets signed Robert Covington earlier today.
Metta World Peace Wants To Join Knicks
The deadline for a team to claim Metta World Peace off of amensty waivers is at 4pm central today and while he might go untouched in the next few hours, there are plenty of teams that would love to bring him aboard. Here's the latest on MWP..
- A source close to MWP tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (via Twitter) that he definitely wants to play for the Knicks. The Clippers are a fairly distant second, with China third.
- If World Peace clears waivers this afternoon, the Knicks are expected to be the first in line to sign him, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday.
- Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) expects the forward to wind up with the Knicks, Nets, or Clippers if he's willing to play for the veteran's minimum for one year. All three teams would offer at least a puncher's chance at a title in 2013 and varying degrees of familiarity. World Peace, of course, spent the last few years in Los Angeles and is a New York City native.
- Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links) has heard that Chris Paul and Matt Barnes have reached out to MWP about joining the Clippers. The veteran could potentially come in as a backup power forward in Doc Rivers' rotation. Pincus also notes that the Clippers tried to deal for him way back when he was a member of the Pacers.
- Knicks exec Larry Johnson wants to see the club go out and get World Peace, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
Pacers Sign Chris Copeland
Chris Copeland is officially a member of the Pacers after the Knicks did not match his offer sheet, the Pacers announced. Copeland signed a two-year, $6.2MM offer sheet with Indiana last week and the Knicks did not have the cap space to match. Still, three days had to pass before the agreement could become official.
There were several teams in play for the John Spencer client, including the Lakers, Bucks, Jazz, and Pelicans. The Nuggets and Cavs were also among the teams involved, though their level of interest was not quite known.
The Knicks probably would have liked to keep Copeland, but they had only $1.75MM left on their mini mid-level exception after giving a portion of it to Pablo Prigioni. Copeland averaged 8.7 PPG and shot nearly 48% from the floor in 15.4 minutes per night in 2012/13.
Before signing with the Knicks in 2012, Copeland played overseas with Okapi Aalstar in Belgium, TBB Trier in Germany, and Torrons Vicens in Spain. He also played one season in the NBA Developmental League with the Fort Worth Flyers and averaged 10.1 PPG.
Brandan Wright Likely To Return To Mavs
It's a virtual certainty that Brandan Wright returns to the Mavericks, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The sides are discussing a deal in $4MM per year range and it may wind up being a two-year pact.
A deal may not be imminent, however, as the Mavericks can go over the salary cap to keep him, MacMahon notes (Twitter link). Dallas will instead focus on taking care of other business first this offseason, then move on to retaining the forward.
Wright is coming off of his best season to date, averaging 8.5 PPG with 4.1 RPG in 18 minutes per contest for Dallas. The former eighth overall pick has great athleticism for his size, but has been limited by injuries in years past.
Odds & Ends: Clippers, Heat, Blazers, Pistons
Here’s today’s look around the Association..
- Eric Patten of NBA.com sat down with colleague Scott Howard-Cooper and chatted about the Clippers. So far, Howard-Cooper gives the club high marks for the offseason that they’ve had. Their sole objective this summer was to retain Chris Paul, and they got him to sign by landing Doc Rivers as coach. While J.J. Redick is getting a lot of attention, he also notes that Darren Collison is a smart signing at a very reasonable price.
- Even though the Heat say that they don’t plan to use the amnesty clause on anyone, their stated openness to using the taxpayer mid-level exception makes Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel think that they might amnesty someone. Adding a player at the taxpayer midlevel right now would cost around $15MM total for next season, so they’d likely look to ease their tax bill if they went that route.
- Trail Blazers General Manager Neil Olshey told reporters that Dorell Wright was the top wing the team targeted in free agency, writes Mike Richman of OregonLive.com. Portland signed Wright to a two-year, $6MM deal earlier this month.
- The Pistons wisely showed restraint during this summer’s free agent frenzy, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Atlantic Notes: Humphries, Wallace, Peace, Nets
Yesterday, the Nets and Celtics officially completed the nine-player swap that will send Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the land of the hipsters. However, two of the players shipped to Boston may not be long for the C's. A source tells A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com that the club may look to flip Kris Humphries and Gerald Wallace. Humphries, who is coming off of a rough 2012/13 season, makes $12MM in the final year of his deal. Wallace, meanwhile, makes more than $30MM over the next three seasons and moving that contract won't be easy by any means. Here's more out of the Atlantic..
- Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni thinks that the recently amnestied Metta World Peace would be a good fit for the Knicks, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. D'Antoni went on to say that amnestying him was purely about finances and had nothing to do with character.
- Not a huge surprise, but Nets General Manager Billy King confirmed that owner Mikhail Prokhorov reached out to Andrei Kirilenko by telephone before he signed, tweets Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. Kirilenko shocked everyone when he agreed to sign with the Nets for the $3.1MM mini-mid level exception earlier this week.
- With speculation that the Nets made an under-the-table agreement with Kirilenko, they are now the bad guys of the NBA, writes Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
Rockets, 76ers Finalize Royce White Trade
The Rockets and 76ers announced that they have finalized the deal that will send Royce White, the draft rights to Turkish forward Furkan Aldemir, and cash considerations to Philly in exchange for future draft considerations.
White, the 16th pick in the 2012 draft, never appeared in a regular season game for the Rockets because of his battles with the team concerning accomodations for his psychological disorders. He averaged 11.4 points and 5.7 rebounds in 16 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston's D-League affiliate.
The move clears White's $1,719,480 guaranteed salary from Houston's books, which helped to give Houston a little more breathing room in an offseason headlined by the signing of Dwight Howard.
Wizards Interested In DeJuan Blair
The Wizards have interest in free agent forward DeJuan Blair, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). A sign-and-trade deal remains a consideration, but the Spurs may be unmoved by the choices they have in a swap with Washington.
For his last couple of years in San Antonio, Blair hasn't had a clearly defined role and the big man has spoken openly about his desire for more playing time, whether it be with the Spurs or another club. Blair's gripe first started last season when, despite playing 21+ minutes per contest in the regular season, he was barely featured in the playoffs. This season, he played a career low 14 minutes per contest and saw just 6.3 minutes of burn in the club's Finals run.
In four seasons for the 24-year-old, Blair has averaged 7.8 points with 5.8 rebounds per contest.
Southeast Notes: Jones, Magic, Harrington
When the Magic declined to tender a qualifying offer to DeQuan Jones last month, that left open the possibility that the team could re-sign him as unrestricted free agent. However, Jones spoke with Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, who says that the Magic told him that won't happen. In 12.7 minutes per contest last season, the University of Miami product averaged 3.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG. Here's more out of the Southeast Division..
- The Magic's deals with Al Harrington and Hedo Turkoglu are only partially guaranteed, and neither veteran expects the team to keep them, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, noting that both of them hope the front office decides their futures soon.
- Wizards coach Randy Wittman would like the team to add a stretch four, but team president Ernie Grunfeld is content to leave the roster alone for now, as Michael Lee of the Washington Post observes.
- The NBA's Board of Governors will vote this week to formally approve the Bobcats' plan to change their nickname to Hornets for 2014/15, HoopsWorld's Alex Kennedy tweets.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Warriors Sign Speights To Three-Year Deal
FRIDAY, 3:38pm: The Warriors have officially signed Speights, the team announced today in a press release.
WEDNESDAY, 7:32pm: The deal will be for three years and $11MM, with a team option for the final season, tweets Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group.
MONDAY, 6:32pm: The Warriors have agreed to terms on a three-year deal with big man Marreese Speights, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links). The final year of the deal is a club option, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Twitter) first reported that a deal was close.
The soon-to-be 26-year-old spent last season with the Grizzlies and Cavs, averaging 8.3 PPG and 3.0 RPG. The Grizzlies dealt him, Wayne Ellington, Josh Selby, and a future first-round pick to the Cavs for Jon Leuer in January, a deal that helped Memphis ease some of their payroll burden and get beneath the tax line.
Speights will help to fill the void left in Golden State when Carl Landry declined his paltry $4MM player option and wound up signing a four-year, $26MM deal with the Kings. Landry had said that he hoped to remain with Golden State, but a significant raise was enough to lure him away.
Speights had a $4.52MM player option for next season with the Cavs but opted out and Cleveland reportedly didn't pursue re-signing him. The Cavs didn't see him as a tremendous fit anyway, but with a frontcourt group that includes Anthony Bennett, Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao, and Tyler Zeller, there wasn't much room for him.
The big man is represented by ASM Sports, according to the Hoops Rumors Agency Database.