Nets Ink Thomas Robinson
JULY 9TH, 12:27pm: The signing is official, the team announced via press release.
5:30pm: Robinson’s deal will be for the league minimum, Tim Bontemps of The New York Post tweets.
JULY 2ND, 4:44pm: The Nets are close to signing free agent Thomas Robinson, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (Twitter links). It will be a two year contract with a player option for 2016/17, Kennedy adds. Robert Windrem of NetsDaily first reported that the two sides shared mutual interest. The Spurs also were noted to have some level of interest in the free agent.
Robinson considered signing with the Nets last season after being waived by the Nuggets, with the forward reportedly agreeing to sign a 10-day contract with Brooklyn before being claimed by the Sixers. The 24-year-old is well-traveled, having played for five NBA teams since being selected with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
In 32 appearances for Philadelphia last season, Robinson logged 8.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 18.5 minutes per game. His career numbers are 5.1 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 0.6 APG, with a slash line of .463/.000/.538.
Nets Sign Shane Larkin
JULY 9TH, 12:26pm: The deal is official, the Nets announced via press release.
JULY 2ND, 1:59pm: The Nets and Shane Larkin have agreed to a two-year, $3MM deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll include a player option on the second season, Wojnarowski writes in a full story. Brooklyn will use part of its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception on the guard who played this past season with the crosstown Knicks.
Larkin confirmed the deal to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). The guard wasn’t expected to return to the Knicks, as Newsday’s Al Iannazzone notes (on Twitter). New York declined its team option for 2015/16 on Larkin’s rookie scale contract this past fall, so the most the Knicks could have paid him next season on a new deal was the value of that option, slightly more than $1.675MM. Other teams were free to pay him more, but the Nets don’t appear to have exceeded that amount.
The Relativity Sports client was the 18th overall pick just two years ago, but he saw little playing time for as a rookie for the Mavs, who traded him to New York in the Tyson Chandler deal. Larkin started 22 games for the Knicks last year, but nonetheless moves on. He passed up more money from one of the three of four teams with interest, but goes into a Brooklyn backcourt already well-stocked with point guards, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com writes on Twitter.
Nets Re-Sign Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young
JULY 9TH, 12:23pm: Both deals are official, the Nets announced via press release.
“We are very pleased to welcome Brook and Thaddeus back the Brooklyn Nets,” GM Billy King said. “Brook is one of the premier big men in this league, while Thad proved to be a perfect complement to Brook last year after he was acquired from Minnesota. Being able to re-sign both of our free agent targets allows us to provide the continuity in our frontcourt that we were looking for going into the upcoming season.”
11:02am: Lopez’s deal doesn’t include a player option, after all, according to Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck (Twitter link).
10:35am: The Nets and both players have indeed reached agreement, according to Wojnarowski (on Twitter). Young is getting a player option, too.
12:55am: Lopez’s deal will include a player option after the second season, Wojnarowski reports.
JULY 1ST, 12:04am: The Nets appear to be all but finished securing Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young, as expected. A source close to the talks told Marc Stein of ESPN.com to “consider them done deals” (Twitter link). Lopez is expected to sign for three years and $60MM, which is about the maximum, while Young is expected to get four years and $50MM, according to Stein.
This news doesn’t come as a surprise, with Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports previously reporting that Brooklyn was the frontrunner to re-sign both players. The Nets have reportedly been planning to pay Lopez his full market value, although the agreement could include some financial protections for Brooklyn should a recurrence of the seven-footer’s past foot issues sideline him again, Wojnarowski noted. Lopez could also opt to have the agreement include a player option for the third year, which would allow him to re-enter free agency after the maximum contract salaries elevate with the flow of new television money.
Young had reportedly been leaning toward opting out back in May, though Young’s agent, Jim Tanner, had suggested that he instead opt in and hit free agency next summer, when the salary cap is projected to surge. The 27-year-old averaged 14.1 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32.0 minutes per game this season, and was acquired by Brooklyn in a midseason trade with Minnesota. Young will still likely listen to pitches from other teams despite the mutual interest in a return to Brooklyn, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Magic are reportedly interested in signing the forward, per Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops.
Atlantic Notes: Saric, Kaun, Jason Smith, Carroll
The Sixers apparently wanted to bring Dario Saric over for 2015/16, and Saric shared that desire, reports David Pick, writing for Basketball Insiders. However, the No. 12 pick in the 2014 draft doesn’t have a way to escape his contract with Turkey’s Anadolu Efes until next year. Saric was circumspect when Pick asked him about the idea of coming stateside and the situation with his overseas team.
“It’s really hard for me to answer that,” Saric said. “I can’t comment. I think I’m ready to compete in the NBA, against the best players, but we built a great team in Efes and I want to help the club win a championship.”
In any case, it would seem that Saric is anxious to sign with the Sixers as soon as he can, rather than wait until 2017, when he wouldn’t be bound by the rookie scale, though that’s just my observation. Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The most recent talks the Nets have had with the Cavaliers were about Cleveland draft-and-stash center Sasha Kaun, not Joe Johnson, as Chris Mannix of SI.com reports as part of a larger piece. The Nets and Kaun, a 6’11” 30-year-old, have had mutual interest for some time, tweets Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com. The Spurs have also reportedly talked to the Cavs about him. The Johnson discussion is reportedly dormant.
- The Knicks offered their $2.814MM room exception to Jason Smith, but he turned it down for more money from the Magic, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. New York could have offered as much as $3,933,600 via Non-Bird rights, but agent Mark Bartelstein made it clear there are no hard feelings, as Berman relays. “The Knicks made a great attempt to try to keep him,’’ Bartelstein said.
- Soon-to-be Raptors signee DeMarre Carroll authored an homage to the Hawks, his former team, in The Players’ Tribune, giving credit to a handful of figures, especially former Hawks assistant Quin Snyder, who’s now head coach of the Jazz.
- New Raptors D-League one-to-one affiliate Raptors 905 has named Dan Tolzman as its GM and Jesse Mermuys its head coach and assistant GM, the team announced. Both were already employed within the Raptors organization.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Jefferson, Kaun
The Celtics have failed to land a major star via free agency thus far this offseason, but being free of burdensome contracts heading into the summer of 2016 will set the franchise up to be major players, Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald writes. Salary cap experts are saying that Boston could potentially get themselves $39MM-$50MM under the cap if they play their cards properly, which means they could have the ability to sign two free agents to maximum contracts next offseason, Bulpett adds. The Boston Herald scribe also notes that it may be easier for the team to land two stars rather than one in the same offseason since players want to go where they have the opportunity to win, and signing as a duo would hold more potential appeal.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Knicks are one of several teams to express interest in unrestricted free agent guard John Jenkins, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com reports (Twitter link).
- Nets forward Cory Jefferson has been forced to cease Summer League play due to an ankle injury he has been struggling with, Shams Charania of RealGM relays (on Twitter). If Jefferson remains on Brooklyn’s roster past July 15th his contract for 2015/16 will become partially guaranteed for $150k, and this setback isn’t expected to affect Jefferson’s roster spot, Charania notes.
- If the Cavaliers and the Nets end up striking a deal to send Joe Johnson to Cleveland, there is a very good chance that the draft rights to Sasha Kaun head to Brooklyn in the transaction, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets. The 30-year-old center has reportedly been a target of the Nets’ this offseason, though the talks between the two franchises appear to be stalled for the moment.
- As much as the Raptors may end up missing Lou Williams‘ offensive game, the team is glad to have rid itself of the distractions that the guard brought to the squad, Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun writes. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year agreed to a three-year, $21MM arrangement with the Lakers, and if Nick Young isn’t traded, which the Lakers are reportedly exploring doing, it will certainly make for an entertaining locker room in Los Angeles in 2015/16.
Cavs, Nets Joe Johnson Talks Stall
TUESDAY, 11:28am: Cleveland and Brooklyn haven’t spoken for three days, Broussard said on SportsCenter (Twitter link via Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com). Mazzeo indicates that the talks are dead as the Cavs focus elsewhere.
12:50pm: The Cavs were the first to show resistance to the deal, based on their tax concerns, and now the Nets aren’t all that enthusiastic, either, as a transcription of Broussard’s SportsCenter appearance on NetsDaily reveals. LeBron James, who wants the Cavs roster to be as loaded as possible, is watching as he lingers in free agency, Broussard reminds.
MONDAY, 12:20pm: The Nets have been looking for a third team to take on Varejao’s contract, but the talks with the Cavs are on hold for now, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN (Twitter link via ESPN colleague Mike Mazzeo).
4:55pm: The Johnson trade talks are preliminary and not likely to be productive, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily.com tweets.
SUNDAY, 3:33pm: The Cavaliers are interested in using Brendan Haywood‘s bloated non-guaranteed salary as ballast in a trade that would bring in Joe Johnson, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. Cleveland would have to send additional salaries to Brooklyn to make the salary matching work, but Windhorst suggests that Anderson Varejao is a possibility to go to the Nets.
The Nets have been actively shopping Johnson in recent days and they’ve had talks with the Grizzlies about the veteran. The Pistons and Hornets, also spoke with Brooklyn about him this past season, despite his severely bloated contract. Johnson, who averaged 14.4 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 3.7 APG in 34.9 minutes per contest last season, is the second-highest paid player in the league at $24.8MM for 2015/16. He’s not a great value, but he is still a strong scorer and would give Cleveland some additional outside shooting. While moving his salary would lift a great luxury tax burden off of Mikhail Prokhorov’s shoulders, it would have the inverse affect on the Cavs’ finances.
Haywood has a $10.5MM non-guaranteed deal that has huge financial implications for a team if waived prior to August 1st. Trading for and waiving Haywood could save the Nets tens of millions in tax payments. Still, there would need to be more, such as Varejao, coming from Cleveland to Brooklyn in order to make a swap work.
The Cavs are poised to go over the tax threshold by quite a bit if they re-sign most of their free agents, as GM David Griffin has indicated he wants to do, but for now, they’re below the tax line, which is projected to come in at around $82MM when the league sets the figure at the end of the July Moratorium. So, they can take in as much as $15,522,500 via trade using the Haywood contract, which calls for a non-guaranteed salary of $5MM less than that amount, as long as that trade doesn’t take them into tax territory. If they do a trade involving Haywood at a point when it would either cause them to cross the tax line or when they already have crossed the tax line, they could only take in $13,253,125 using Haywood’s salary. The Nets are already well into tax territory, so they can’t bring in more than 125% plus $100K than they send out.
If the Cavs send both Haywood and Varejao to the Nets, it won’t matter whether Cleveland is above or below the tax line, since the salary-matching rules would be the same: The Cavs would be limited to taking in 125% plus $100K. Johnson’s deal would fit within those parameters.
Varejao, when healthy, is a capable rebounder and scorer, but health issues have dogged him in recent years. Over the last five seasons, Varejao has missed 50+ contests in four of those campaigns. In his “healthiest” of those five seasons, Varejao played in 65 regular season games. For his career, the big man has averaged 7.9 PPG and 7.8 RPG in 25. 8 minutes per night.
The possibility of moving Varejao could be behind the Cavs’ interest in free-agent forward David West over the last several days, Windhorst writes. West has indicated he wants to play for a Finals contender, and the Cavs have been attempting to recruit him, sources told Windhorst.
Cavs Rumors: Smith, Crawford, Love
The Cavaliers struck deals on the first day of free agency with Kevin Love and Iman Shumpert, and they were reportedly close to doing the same with Tristan Thompson the same day, but their pace has slowed considerably since then. The Thompson talks have reportedly bogged down, with LeBron James apparently unwilling to talk about a deal for himself until Thompson, a fellow Rich Paul client, is taken care of. The Joe Johnson trade discussions with the Nets appear to be in limbo, too. Still, there are plenty of rumors, as we’ll pass along:
- The Cavs don’t see the wisdom in giving J.R. Smith the long-term deal he’s seeking, and Smith “pretty much signed his exit papers” from Cleveland when he opted out, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. That’s in spite of Smith’s apparent inclination to remain in Cleveland and LeBron’s desire to have the former Sixth Man of the Year back. Still, James is a fan of Johnson, and Pluto suggests the Nets swingman as a possible replacement for Smith on the wing. Those talks with the Nets about Johnson appear to be stagnant, however.
- Pluto hears rumors linking the Cavs to Jamal Crawford, and the Plain Dealer scribe suggests Crawford as another possible trade target with the Brendan Haywood contract. The Clippers were reportedly exploring trades for Crawford shortly before the draft.
- The Cavs and Love had a verbal agreement in place before July 1st, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group hears. That would technically violate collective bargaining agreement rules, since the sides weren’t allowed to talk contract until this month, but the practice of engaging in clandestine early negotiations wouldn’t exactly be unprecedented, Haynes notes.
Nets Sign Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
The Nets have formally signed No. 23 overall pick Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, the team announced via press release. First-round pick signings are among the few that can become official during the July Moratorium. The small forward from Arizona will make $1,335,480 this coming season and a total of $6,657,157 over the course of his four-year rookie scale contract, presuming he signs for the standard 120% of scale, as our table of likely first-round salaries shows.
Brooklyn traded with Portland for the rights to Hollis-Jefferson shortly after the draft, along with Steve Blake, for Mason Plumlee and the rights to No. 41 overall pick Pat Connaughton. Hollis-Jefferson stands to have a better chance at playing time this coming season if the Nets trade Joe Johnson, as they’re reportedly in talks to do.
The best-case scenario for Hollis-Jefferson’s NBA career is likely that he’ll end up similar to former Net Gerald Wallace, as Eddie Scarito of Hoops Rumors posited in his prospect profile of the defensive-minded new addition to Brooklyn’s roster. Hollis-Jefferson is a client of Mike George, according to Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress, who ranked him as the 13th-best prospect in this year’s draft. Chad Ford of ESPN.com had him 20th.
And-Ones: Terry, O’Quinn, Anderson
The Mavericks have had conversations with unrestricted free agent Jason Terry about a reunion in Dallas, where the veteran spent half of his 16 seasons in the league, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News reports. If the Mavs added him, Terry would likely join Devin Harris as a good source of offense off the bench, Sefko writes. Terry finished last season as the Rockets’ starting point guard when Patrick Beverley was injured and played well in that role during the playoffs.
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- Kyle O’Quinn, who the Knicks have agreed to acquire via sign-and-trade with the Magic, will miss Orlando, but the clincher in the deal was it being a long-term one from his hometown team, Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel writes. “It was a long-term deal. That played a big part,” O’Quinn said. “When I found out I was going home, of course I was excited to be around my mom and my dad and my sister. … And it was just a good opportunity for me to possibly get minutes, play a bigger role, and hopefully I can flourish in it.”
- Keeping free agent Alan Anderson remains a priority for the Nets, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). However, Anderson is a popular bench target for teams so he could wind up elsewhere.
- Unrestricted free agent big man Joel Freeland is considering five potential NBA teams, but it is very possible he signs with CSKA Moscow, reports Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype.com (Twitter links). A decision is expected some time next week.
- The Spurs have expressed an interest in adding Carlos Boozer to their bench, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com tweets.
- Rodney Stuckey declined four other offers before agreeing to sign a 3-year, $21MM deal with the Pacers, league sources tell Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops (on Twitter).
- NBA free agent Vitor Faverani auditioned for Maccabi Tel Aviv and there’s mutual interest in a deal, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (on Twitter).
- Jeremy Evans is a developmental project for the Mavs, but they believe he can contribute this season, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweets.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Johnson, Watson, Dellavedova
The Nets have been actively shopping veteran forward Joe Johnson over the past few days, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter). Brooklyn hasn’t had much luck in finding a taker, as teams are leery of taking on Johnson’s $24,894,863 salary for the 2015/16 campaign, which is the final year of his deal, as well as gutting their rosters to acquire the 34-year-old, Mazzeo adds.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Wizards refused to compromise their salary cap space for the summer of 2016, when Kevin Durant is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent, in order to re-sign veteran Paul Pierce, J. Michael of CSNWashington.com writes. This was the same stance the franchise took regarding Trevor Ariza, who ended up signing with the Rockets last summer, Michael notes. Pierce agreed to a three-year, approximately $10MM deal with the Clippers this week.
- The Cavaliers and free agent point guard Matthew Dellavedova are making progress in their discussions to bring the Australian back to Cleveland next season, Shams Charania of RealGM tweets. Dellavedova is seeking a multiyear deal in the $3MM-$5MM range annually, Charania adds.
- The Wizards have expressed interest in free agent guard C.J. Watson, Jorge Castillo of The Washington Post notes (Twitter link). Watson is intent on signing for the mid-level exception, which is not necessarily what Washington is currently offering, Michael tweets.
- Greg Monroe chose to sign with the Bucks because they were the most playoff ready team of all his suitors, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report tweets.
- The Wizards could be a potential landing spot for free agent forward Chris Copeland, tweets Jared Zwerling of Bleacher Report. Washington is also reportedly in discussions with the Bucks regarding a trade for Jared Dudley.
- Prior to reaching an agreement on his five-year, $90MM deal with the Heat, Goran Dragic asked team president Pat Riley how he could be flexible to aid the franchise in retaining Dwyane Wade, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com writes (on Twitter). Wade and Miami agreed to a one-year, $20MM arrangement earlier today.