Lakers, Nets, Rockets Talking Howard Trade
The Lakers and Magic have had preliminary contact about a possible deal for Dwight Howard, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. The Nets and Rockets have also talked to Magic officials, sources said.
Brandon Roy To Consider Five Teams
10:52pm: Roy met with the Timberwolves on Friday, Wojnarowski reports. The meeting took place in Seattle and included Wolves owner Glen Taylor, GM David Kahn and coach Rick Adelman along with Roy and his agent, Greg Lawrence. Roy is expected to meet with the other teams on his list over the next several days, a source tells Wojnarowski.
9:43pm: Roy is meeting with the Mavs tonight, according to Jamal Crawford, who said the meeting kept Roy from competing in a charity game today, tweets Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune.
6:09pm: Brandon Roy has narrowed his free agent finalists to the Bulls, Mavericks, Pacers, Timberwolves, and Warriors, league sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports. Roy and his agent, Greg Lawrence of Wasserman Media Group, will hold meetings with those teams over the next several days.
Hoops Links: Nets, Draft, Waiters, Teague
On this date in 1969, Bill Russell announced his retirement from the Celtics after a remarkable 13-year career that included eleven NBA Championships. In 1980, Russell was named the “Greatest Player in the History of the NBA” by the Professional Basketball Writers Association of America. In 2009, the league announced that the NBA Finals MVP trophy would be named after the legendary big man.
If you have a great blog piece that you think we should feature in Hoops Links, then send it to me at HoopsLinks@gmail.com. Here's this week's look around the blogosphere..
Warriors Interested In Jordan Hill
The Warriors are intrigued by the prospects of signing Lakers big man Jordan Hill, according to Marcus Thompson of the Contra Costa Times. The 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward/center is an unrestricted free agent.
Hill, 24, had a solid late-season finish after coming to the Lakers in a deadline deal from Houston. The Arizona product showed some toughness in the postseason as he averaged 4.8 PPG and 6.3 RPG in 18.1 minutes per contest. The Warriors will have legitimate competition for him, however, as there is mutual interest between the Lakers and Hill in a return.
Qualifying Offers: Saturday
Here’s our running list of qualifying offers extended to players this evening. If a qualifying offer is not tendered to a player eligible for restricted free agency, he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Players who are tendered qualifying offers have the option to accept the one-year contract and hit unrestricted free agency a year from now, but the primary purpose of the offers are to ensure that the player’s team can match any offers for him this summer. Here are today’s qualifying offers, with the latest added to the top of the page….
- The Cavs have made a qualifying offer to center Semih Erden, according to Mary Schmitt Boyer and Jodie Valade. of The Plain Dealer (via Twitter). The offer is just over $1MM for the Turkish big man.
Beasley, Randolph Become Unrestricted FAs
The Timberwolves announced that they will not be making qualifying offers to Michael Beasley and Anthony Randolph, making them unrestricted free agents. Both moves were widely anticipated.
The qualifying offer for Beasley, the second-overall pick in the 2008 draft, would have been for $8.17MM. Randolph, who averaged 7.4 PPG and 3.6 RPG last season, could have been given a qualifying offer for a shade over $4MM.
Jordan Farmar Exercises Player Option
5:54pm: Farmar confirmed to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter) that he will be opting in for next year.
5:26pm: Jordan Farmar is opting into the final year of his contract, according to Colin Stephenson of the Newark Star-Ledger (via Twitter). The news contradicts yesterday's report that indicated the point guard would opt out and test the open market.
Hawks Looking To Trade Without Paying Tax
Newly-appointed Hawks GM Danny Ferry will have to put together a team for next season without much financial flexibility. Atlanta doesn't want to venture into luxury tax territory, but that won't deter Ferry from making upgrades to the roster via trade, writes Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Odds & Ends: Raptors, Melo, Brooks, Heat
We're less than a week away from the NBA Draft, and the Raptors big board doesn't seem to be getting any clearer, writes Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun. However, multiple team sources say that the club was impressed with North Carolina power forward John Henson’s workout on Thursday. More draft news and other odds and ends on this Sunday afternoon..
Prospect Profile: Kevin Jones
You won't find Kevin Jones' name in the first round of Alex Lee's Hoops Rumors mock draft, or anyone else's mock draft for that matter. However, if agent Bill Neff is to be believed, the power forward out of West Virginia will be off the board before pick No. 31 rolls around.
“A team in the first round has committed to him,” Neff told Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog. “The question is, what does that mean? I never trust anything other than what happens on draft night…He’ll get drafted,” Neff added. “It’s either them in the first or early second.”