Eastern Notes: Larkin, Stuckey, Copeland
The Nets believe that the right system can bring out the potential that made Shane Larkin a first round pick back in 2013, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “I talked to [GM] Billy [King] and Lionel [Hollins] as soon as free agency started, and they told me they wanted me to come in and just play my game,” Larkin said. “I’m more of a pick-and-roll guy, up and down. “And that’s the thing they told me they wanted me to come in and do. For them to tell me they wanted me to come in push the tempo, bring some energy to the team, that was everything I wanted to hear.”
Larkin admits to having been uncomfortable playing in the Knicks‘ triangle offense last season, Youngmisuk adds. “I mean the triangle is a good offense if you have the type of players that fit within that offense,” Larkin said. “And I don’t feel like it was the best offense for me. I’m not talking bad about it. It’s a great offense. I wish them nothing but the best.”
Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- The presence of former teammate Jason Kidd as coach was a major factor for Chris Copeland‘s decision to sign with the Bucks, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports writes. “The biggest hook for me was Jason Kidd, by far,” Copeland said. “Obviously, he was a friend of mine before all this. He was a great mentor for me in New York and someone I continue to grow under. An incredible mind on and off the floor.”
- The final season of Jordan Mickey‘s four-year pact with the Celtics is a non-guaranteed team option, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Brazilian big man Cristiano Felicio‘s contract with the Bulls is a two-year deal, and he will earn $525,093 in 2015/16 and $874,636 the following season, with both years non-guaranteed, Pincus relays (Twitter link).
- Rodney Stuckey‘s three-year contract with the Pacers will see him earn $7MM each season, and includes a player option for the final year, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
And-Ones: Playoffs, Aldridge, Teletovic, Mekel
The NBA is leaning toward no longer guaranteeing a playoff spot to division winners, commissioner Adam Silver said Wednesday, as Brian Mahoney of The Associated Press observes. It would be one more step away from a divisional structure that long ago ceased to have much relevance on roster building, though Pelicans GM Dell Demps recently cited the preponderance of strong post players in the Southwest Division as he spoke about the team’s decision to re-sign Omer Asik. Here’s more from around the NBA:
- LaMarcus Aldridge kept the Trail Blazers in the running for him right up until he committed to sign with the Spurs, as Aldridge said this week in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s The Russillo Show, as Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com relays. Aldridge also insisted that he didn’t exit Portland because of any jealousy toward Damian Lillard. “We got along very well during the season,” Aldridge said. “I thought we played well off of each other. So, all of that stuff is just rumors that I’ve dealt with before. Me leaving had nothing to do with any of that. It was just me feeling like being close to home, by my family, being able to see them more and just a change of scenery. I had been in Portland for nine years. I had been through a couple of rebuilds. So it was just time to try something new. It wasn’t anything toward Damian or the organization.”
- The decision to cancel the meeting between Aldridge and the Knicks was a mutual one, Aldridge also said in his radio appearance, notes Ian Begley of ESPN.com.
- The Nets wanted to keep Mirza Teletovic, offering him a two-year deal that included an option, and the Kings also offered him a two-year deal, but he thought the Suns were a better fit, as Teletovic said to Bosnian media and as Igor Marinovic and NetsDaily relay (Twitter links). Teletovic signed for one-year with Phoenix.
- Former Mavericks and Pelicans point guard Gal Mekel is in talks with three NBA teams, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears (Twitter links).
- Many scouts say Dragan Bender is the best international prospect, but whether Bender, who won’t turn 19 until November 2016, enters next year’s draft will depend on where he’d likely be drafted, sources tell Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who looks the 2016 draft class.
Atlantic Notes: Love, Thornton, Roberts, Nets
Kevin Love was never close to becoming a Celtic, and his preference since joining the Cavs has been to remain with the team, but if somehow it had fallen apart for him in Cleveland, his second choice would have been Boston, as a non-Celtics source who spoke with Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald believes. Love enjoyed his much-publicized offseason trip to Boston last year, the source said to Bulpett, but the power forward is now locked in long-term with the Cavs, having signed a new five-year contract this month.
- Marcus Thornton appeared to be a reach when the Celtics picked him 45th overall, but he assured them before the draft that he was willing to play overseas, a priority for the team, which wouldn’t consider others who refused to make the same promise, Bulpett tweets. Thornton signed this week to play for the Sydney Kings in Australia, in a league that would allow him enough time to return stateside and join Boston’s D-League team or even the NBA roster near the end of the season, writes Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com.
- The Raptors inked Ronald Roberts this week, and at least one sign points to the team having more than the D-League in mind for the former Sixers power forward. The Warriors own his D-League rights, so Toronto’s new D-League affiliate would have to trade for them if Roberts were to remain in the Raptors system should Toronto waive him at the end of training camp, notes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links).
- The Nets made a number of changes to their coaching and basketball operations staff this week, and they serve to further signal the franchise’s belt-tightening, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com examines.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Nets, Sixers
In Charley Rosen’s latest ESPN piece in a series about the Knicks‘ 2014/15 season, team president Phil Jackson spoke candidly about the team’s problems early in the year, and said J.R. Smith had been showing poor behavior before the trade that sent the guard to the Cavs. Jackson also said that Smith was expected to shoulder a lot of the scoring load and had not been doing his job. Jackson did not add any specifics about what Smith, who is still an unrestricted free agent, was — or was not — doing. One league agent told ESPNNewYork.com’s Ian Begley that Jackson’s revealing of player transgressions was a “classless move” (Twitter link).
“J.R. had been exhibiting some delinquent behavior and had gotten into the habit of coming late to team meetings, or missing them altogether,” Jackson told Rosen. “Also, [Iman Shumpert] and [Tim Hardaway Jr.] were regressing, so I decided to meet with them separately and try to find out what, if anything, was bothering them.”
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets have promoted Steve Jones, the team’s manager of video operations, to assistant coach for player development, the team announced. He replaces John Welch, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com points out (Twitter link). Welch left for an assistant coaching job with the Kings.
- Thomas Robinson, who is expected to be a reserve behind Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young for the Nets, is hopeful he can stay in Brooklyn and finally stop bouncing from team to team, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com writes. Brooklyn will be Robinson’s fifth team in his first four seasons in the league. The Nets signed him to a two-year deal.
- Pierre Jackson‘s four-year deal with the Sixers will pay him about $3.7MM, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, who adds that the first year is fully guaranteed and the fourth year has a team option.
And-Ones: Las Vegas, Motum, Taylor, Lockout
The success of the summer league in Las Vegas has created hopes that the city may one day have its own NBA team, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Former commissioner David Stern planted the seed during a 2007 meeting with Mayor Oscar Goodman, and the annual summertime gathering has strengthened the city’s position. The 20,000-seat MGM Grand Garden Arena is large enough to house an NBA franchise, and the NHL has started to break down the Las Vegas barrier, announcing recently that the city is a candidate for a future expansion team, along with Seattle and Quebec City. City officials should be patient, though. Celtics president Rich Gotham pointed out that the league has no immediate plans for expansion and that sentiment remains high to put a team in Seattle.
There’s more from around the world of basketball:
- The Jazz have offered a partially guaranteed contract to forward Brock Motum, tweets Angus Crawford of NBA.com/Australia. Team officials were impressed by his play in the summer league. Motum is “strongly” considering Utah’s offer, but is also listening to teams in Europe (Twitter link).
- Former Hornet Jeffery Taylor has turned down an offer from Maccabi of the Israeli Premier League, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com. The news was relayed by Taylor’s agent, Todd Ramasar.
- The new contract that Miroslav Raduljica signed with Panathinaikos in the Greek League includes a $500K escape clause, according to Pick (Twitter link). The Serbian briefly played for the Wolves last season.
- The NBA is risking its historic success with tough labor talk, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. Both the league and the players’ union issued statements this week, reminding everyone that a potential lockout is just two years away.
- Sixteen teams still have not used their $2.814MM room exception, tweets former Nets executive Bobby Marks.
Nets Rumors: Sale, Hollis-Jefferson, Brown, Vaulet
An August 12th deadline may speed the resolution of ownership of the Nets and Barclays Center, according to NetsDaily. Bruce Ratner’s parent company, Forest Center Enterprises, revealed last week that Ratner must repay his debts to MP Entities by that date or his ownership interests in the team “will be diluted from 20% to approximately 8%.” The other 92% would be owned by Mikhail Prokhorov. The website expects FCE to retain its 20% interest by paying the tens of millions it owes to Prokhorov, saying what would be lost is more valuable than the amount still owed. Negotiations for Ratner’s complete stake in the team have either started or will begin soon. The Nets’ cost-cutting moves have made the team a more attractive purchase, as the website speculates that the franchise could turn a profit next season.
There’s more news out of Brooklyn:
- Rondae Hollis-Jefferson could be the type of strong personality the Nets need, writes Tim Bontemps of The New York Post. He speculates the “effervescent” Hollis-Jefferson will be a welcome addition to a team sometimes accused of lacking emotion and passion. “He doesn’t hold anything back,” said Brandon Ashley, Hollis-Jefferson’s teammate at Arizona. “Sometimes that’s a good thing and sometimes that’s not the best [thing], but you always know what to expect from him.” Hollis-Jefferson was drafted 23rd overall by the Blazers last month, and his rights came to Brooklyn in a deal for Mason Plumlee.
- Markel Brown, who was inserted into the starting lineup as a rookie this season, is happy to have Hollis-Jefferson on board, Bontemps writes in a separate story. Brown was made a starter as the Nets tried to improve their defense and athleticism, and he views Hollis-Jefferson as a similar player. “I see us locking down a lot of players in the future, and I see a lot of promise for both of us on the defensive end,” Brown said. “It’s just about going out there and contributing on offense for both of us.” Brown’s salary of $845,059 is only partially guaranteed for next season. He received $150K by staying on the roster through July 15th, and that figure increases to $200K September 1st. Brown’s contract will become fully guaranteed if he is not waived by September 29th, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
- The Nets are coordinating Juan Pablo Vaulet‘s recovery from tibia surgery with his Argentinian team, according to NetsDaily. The Nets reportedly think Vaulet has a bright NBA future and are hoping to add him to the team next season. He was a drafted by the Hornets in the second round last month, and his rights were dealt to Brooklyn.
Suns Ink Mirza Teletovic
JULY 17TH, 4:21pm: The Suns have officially announced the signing. “We have followed Mirza Teletovic’s career for a long time and we are excited to have him wear a Suns uniform,” said GM Ryan McDonough. “Mirza is one of the best shooting big men in the world and we think his skill set will be a great fit for our style of play.”
JULY 9TH, 5:42pm: The Suns will sign Mirza Teletovic to a one-year deal for $5.5MM, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). The move comes shortly after the Nets pulled their qualifying offer to the forward earlier today, making him an unrestricted free agent. Phoenix is likely using cap space to accommodate the transaction.
The client of Jeff Schwartz and Mike Lindeman ends up with a deal that’s about $1.3MM more lucrative than he’d have had if he’d simply signed the more than $4.21MM qualifyer while it was on the table. The agreement with Phoenix comes as somewhat of a surprise, as aside from a vague link to the Spurs, it didn’t seem as though any NBA team other than the Nets had much interest. Nets GM Billy King said this morning that the Nets and Teletovic were in talks and that he was hopeful of re-signing the three-year veteran, but Brooklyn never made Teletovic a priority this offseason, according to Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Teletovic, who turns 30 in September, was to have missed the rest of the season when doctors diagnosed him with blood clots in his lungs after a game in January, but he came back for the playoffs and appeared in three games during Brooklyn’s first-round series loss to the Hawks. He was a significant part of Brooklyn’s rotation prior to the ailment, averaging 22.3 minutes per game this past season.
Western Notes: Durant, Matthews, Hamilton
Executives from around the league seem to think that Kevin Durant will end up re-signing with the Thunder next year, but the Wizards, Mavericks, Lakers, Heat, Knicks and Nets are expected to be among his most dogged suitors, writes Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post. Damion James, a Wizards summer-leaguer whom Castillo describes as Durant’s best friend, says it’ll come down to wins and losses.
“He’ll do whatever it takes to win. Whoever gives him the best chance to win is where he’s going to end up,” James said.
The Thunder certainly seem to have kept themselves in the discussion on that front, having just paid the max to avoid losing Enes Kanter. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- No contract handed out this summer has seemed to draw as many surprised reactions for its munificence as the one Wesley Matthews ended up with from the Mavericks, observes Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. The shooting guard was going to make $57MM over four years with the Mavs before they bumped his deal up to the maximum of $70,060,025, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. “A healthy Wesley Matthews at $70MM is insane,” one GM told Bulpett. “But Wesley Matthews coming off Achilles’ surgery at $70MM? What’s a stronger way to say insane?”
- Justin Hamilton is close to a deal with Valencia of Spain, according to Paco Garcia Caridad of the Spanish outlet Marca (Twitter link; translation via Trapani). Hamilton, who went to the Finals with the Heat in 2013/14, finished this past season as a member of the Timberwolves.
- Miroslav Raduljica has agreed to sign with Panathinaikos of Greece, reports Sportando’s Enea Trapani. The Kings reportedly had interest in the big man who was briefly with the Wolves this past season. The team was reportedly close to a deal with Nikola Milutinov, whom the Spurs drafted 26th overall, but now the status of negotiations with Milutinov is unclear. Regardless, the Spurs have already filed paperwork with the league saying they won’t sign Milutinov this year, thus clearing his cap hold.
Nets Sign Andrea Bargnani
JULY 17TH, 11:03am: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
“Andrea will give us the ability to space the floor and complement our other frontcourt players,” King said in the team’s statement.
Bargnani didn’t want to leave New York and personally appealed to the Nets to sign him, Windrem tweets.
JULY 12TH, 5:08pm: The Nets have agreed to sign Andrea Bargnani, Brooklyn GM Billy King announced (Twitter link). The big man will receive the veteran’s minimum on a two-year deal with a player option in the second year, tweets Robert Windrem of NetsDaily.com, who cites a league source.
Bargnani has been linked to the Kings, but instead decided to take less money and join the Nets, ESPN.com’s Marc Stein reports (Twitter link). Sacramento pitched a two-year deal, Stein adds. Earlier Sunday, Stein reported that the Kings were close to signing the big man, but the Nets apparently swooped in and landed him.
It’s a low-risk move for the Nets, who have Thaddeus Young at power forward and Brook Lopez at center. Bargnani is a big man with offensive skills, but is often injured and therefore has missed significant time the last three seasons. He has also never been considered a strong defender.
The nine-year veteran was the overall number one pick in the 2006 NBA draft. He spent seven years in Toronto before being traded to New York in 2013. Bargnani earlier indicated that he was considering several options in free agency, including signing with a team in Europe. The Knicks were reportedly interested in keeping him, but only on a minimum-salary deal. Bargnani, who will turn 30 in October, played in only 71 of a possible 164 games for the Knicks.
Eastern Notes: Wizards, Canaan, Nets
The Wizards let the remaining $2,252,089 of their Trevor Ariza trade exception expire Wednesday. The exception, gained when Washington signed-and-traded Ariza to the Rockets, was originally worth $8,579,089. The Wizards used most of that initial amount to acquire Kris Humphries and Ramon Sessions in separate deals. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:
- Markel Brown added another $50K in partially guaranteed money, now totaling $150K, to his $845,059 contract for the 2015/16 season when he remained on the Nets‘ roster through Wednesday, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
- As a result of remaining on the Sixers‘ roster through Wednesday, Isaiah Canaan‘s 2015/16 salary of $947,276 became fully-guaranteed.
- Quincy Miller picked up a $50K partial guarantee on his $981,348 salary this season with the Nets, courtesy of him sticking on the Nets‘ roster through Wednesday.
- Forbes magazine estimated the value of the Nets to be $1.5 billion, which is a higher figure than the team’s internal valuation, which is $1.3 billion, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily relays (via Twitter).
- Heat small forward James Ennis said that the combination of Miami’s packed frontcourt and his non-guaranteed deal has placed a significant amount of stress on him, Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post tweets. The 25-year-old made 62 appearances for the Heat last season, averaging 5.0 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in 17.0 minutes per game.
- Tobias Harris‘ four-year deal with the Magic will pay him $16MM this coming season, $17.2MM in 2016/17, $16MM in the third year, and $14.8MM during the 2018/19 campaign, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.