Nets Frontrunners To Re-Sign Lopez, Young
TUESDAY, 10:55am: The Magic have kept an eye on Young as a possible target, but he’s still likely to re-sign with the Nets, tweets Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (on Twitter).
3:19pm: Young will listen to pitches from other teams despite the mutual interest in a return to Brooklyn, a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
MONDAY, 1:25pm: Opposing teams increasingly convinced that they have no shot at either Lopez or Young, report Marc Stein and Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com.
FRIDAY, 4:37pm: The Nets are strong frontrunners to re-sign Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young this offseason, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Both players will be unrestricted free agents after opting out of their respective deals for the 2015/16 campaign. GM Billy King is determined to keep the pair, and both players opted out of their contracts with strong intentions of reaching agreement on new deals with Brooklyn, league sources informed Wojnarowski.
Lopez is likely seeking a three-year, $60MM maximum contract, according to the Yahoo! scribe’s sources. The Nets are planning to pay the seven-footer full market value, although the agreement could include some financial protections for Brooklyn should a recurrence of Lopez’s past foot issues sideline him again, Wojnarowski notes. Lopez could also opt to do a deal that includes 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, adds Wojnarowski. The big man passed on the $16,744,218 that he was due next season, with the hope that he can secure a new long-term deal.
Young, who opted out of the nearly $10.222MM owed him next season, is on course for a four-year, $48MM-plus deal via free agency, and the Nets appear strongly willing to meet those parameters, league sources relayed to Wojnarowski. The forward had reportedly been leaning toward opting out as of late last month, 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.
Bucks To Pursue Brook Lopez, Tyson Chandler
JUNE 30TH, 11:01am: It appears the interest between Chandler and the Bucks is mutual, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Some league executives who spoke with ESPN’s Chris Broussard believe he’ll end up in Milwaukee, though the Mavs aren’t out of the running (Twitter link).
JUNE 12TH, 8:27am: The Bucks have grand designs for the summer ahead and plan a hard push to sign at least one of Brook Lopez and Tyson Chandler, league sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Bucks, who set themselves up with an additional $7.9MM in cap flexibility with Thursday’s Ersan Ilyasova trade, would also like to go after DeAndre Jordan, but it’s widely regarded a two-team race between the Clippers and Mavericks for his services, Stein also hears.
Lopez has a player option worth more than $16.744MM for next season. Some people around the league told Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times during the spring that they thought Lopez might consider opting out and signing with the Bucks, citing his ties to former Nets and current Bucks coach Jason Kidd. Still, multiple reports from about six weeks ago indicated that it was likely Lopez would turn down his option and re-sign with the Nets, with one opposing GM telling Fred Kerber of the New York Post that Lopez would be back with Brooklyn at the max. Sean Deveney of the Sporting News wrote shortly thereafter that “genuine uncertainty” existed about Lopez’s plans for the option, though Nets GM Billy King has said time and again that the Nets intend to keep Lopez one way or another.
Milwaukee would likely have competition for Lopez even if he does decide to leave the Nets, and speculation, at least, has suggested the Spurs have interest. Lopez and Kidd have a good relationship, Woelfel wrote, but Robert Windrem of NetsDaily casts doubt on that notion, writing that Kidd wasn’t enamored with Lopez’s game during their time together in Brooklyn. Kidd wanted the Nets to trade Lopez and Mirza Teletovic to the Bucks for Ilyasova and Larry Sanders last year, though Kidd made that push knowing that he could end up coaching Milwaukee, according to the NetsDaily scribe.
Chandler, a former teammate of Kidd’s, has made it clear that he would prefer a return to the Mavs, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com wrote earlier this week. He isn’t the top priority for Dallas, MacMahon cautions, though the Mavs would like to retain him if they miss out on Jordan. He’s expected to garner at least a three-year, $36MM deal, according to MacMahon. The Bucks, thanks to the Ilyasova deal, could afford that sort of arrangement and a new deal for Khris Middleton, even if Middleton ends up with the max. Milwaukee is set on matching any offer sheets for the soon-to-be restricted free agent, and a source told Stein that the degree of certainty that Middleton will be back with the Bucks is a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10.
Middleton’s diminutive cap hold of slightly more than $2.725MM will help the Bucks have cap space even for a more costly max deal for Lopez, who as a seven-year veteran would be eligible for an estimated starting salary of roughly $19MM. It would get tricky if Lopez lingers on his decision and another team signs Middleton to a lucrative offer sheet that the Bucks would have three days to match, but he couldn’t sign an offer sheet until after the end of the July Moratorium, which runs through July 8th. The Bucks, as it stands, have only about $36MM in guaranteed salary against a projected $67.1MM cap. Milwaukee’s dream scenario involves signing Lopez or Chandler and a well-regarded perimeter defender, according to Stein, who also identifies adding more shooting as one of the team’s priorities.
Eastern Notes: Nets, Acy, Pistons
The Nets will be looking to add depth through free agency and trades and Thomas Robinson, Wesley Johnson and Sasha Kaun are players they will target, Tim Bontemps of the New York Post reports. Robinson could provide some rebounding and energy off the bench and Johnson would give them an athletic wing who can shoot 3-pointers, Bontemps continues. Both are unrestricted free agents. Kaun, a Russian center whose rights are owned by the Cavaliers, would be an ideal backup if they can re-sign Brook Lopez and work out a deal with Cleveland, Bontemps adds.
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- The Knicks have declined to extend the qualifying offer of $1.181MM to Quincy Acy, making the forward an unrestricted free agent, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. The Kings, Nuggets, Magic and Pelicans have expressed interest in Acy, a source told Spears (Twitter links).
- DeMarre Carroll, Arron Afflalo, Tobias Harris and Kosta Koufos are the free agents the Pistons will most likely court, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. The Pistons believe Carroll might be easier to sign than some other unrestricted free agents, Foster continues. Danny Green and Wesley Matthews are longshot possibilities to come to Detroit, Foster adds. The Knicks also want to be “in the mix” for Green, league sources told Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Green has any interest in the Knicks, Begley adds.
- Harris’ pricetag will be at least $10MM annually in the eyes of several league executives, Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets. One of those executives believes Harris’ value is in the $12-14MM range, Mannix adds. The Magic forward is a restricted free agent.
Nets, Grizzlies Spoke About Joe Johnson
5:46pm: The talks were exploratory in nature, a “brief discussion” that never became a negotiation, a league source told Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
9:14am: The Nets and Grizzlies had recent talks about a trade involving Joe Johnson, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The sides were unable to come away with the framework of a deal, but the exchange nonetheless left Brooklyn encouraged that it will find a taker for Johnson’s nearly $24.895MM salary for next season, Stein adds (on Twitter).
Johnson’s deal presents obvious challenges even though it runs out after this coming season, as few teams have the flexibility to simply absorb it into cap space, and coming up with matching salaries would be a chore. Still, Memphis is the latest team to at least show interest in acquiring the swingman who turns 34 today, joining the Pistons and Hornets, who reportedly spoke with Brooklyn about him this past season. Both teams have since made other acquisitions that likely knock them out of the running for Johnson, as Stein points out, but there nonetheless appears to be a market, and that’s key for the Nets, who would have to pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they’re again over the tax line come the end of the 2015/16 regular season.
The Grizzlies have also been going after Danilo Gallinari, showing a clear desire for an upgrade on the wing, as Stein points out. Memphis will likely have to make any major addition via trade, since Jeff Green‘s decision to opt in cut off any realistic possibility the team has of creating significant cap space if Marc Gasol re-signs.
Biyombo To Become Unrestricted Free Agent
The Hornets won’t make a qualifying offer to Bismack Biyombo, so the former seventh overall pick will become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The value of the offer declined from $5,194,227 to $4,045,894 when he failed to meet the starter criteria this season, but even that apparently wasn’t enough of an enticement for Charlotte to retain its right to match competing bids for him.
Biyombo’s qualifying offer was a borderline case, and with Noah Vonleh off to Portland in the Nicolas Batum trade, there seemed a greater chance the Hornets would do what they could to keep him around. Charlotte and Biyombo can still sign a new deal, and the Hornets retain his Bird rights, so they can exceed the cap to re-sign him if they wish.
Nets Waive Darius Morris
The Nets have waived Darius Morris, the team announced. His minimum salary for next season was to become partially guaranteed for $25K if he had remained under contract through Wednesday. That remains a possibility if he is claimed off waivers in the next two days.
Morris signed with Brooklyn in December, not long after the Blazers let him go at the end of training camp. The Nets gave him a two-year deal for the minimum that was initially non-guaranteed for last season. The former University of Michigan point guard made it past the January date when last season’s salary became guaranteed, but he didn’t stay with Brooklyn long enough to trigger any more guaranteed money.
Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Sullinger, Tokoto
Members of the Knicks’ front office were involved in trade discussions with the Magic, Suns, and Celtics in the hours leading up to Thursday night’s NBA Draft, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. Boston discussed a package that included multiple draft picks and Jared Sullinger with New York, and Phoenix also spoke with members of the Knicks about a trade involving Eric Bledsoe in the hours leading up to the draft, Begley adds. Team president Phil Jackson said the Knicks had talked to teams about potential offers but all the offers were contingent on which players were selected ahead of them, the ESPN scribe notes. “Those things fell the way they did. We had what we wanted and we went with it,” Jackson said.
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks coach Derek Fisher indicated that finding frontcourt help will be a priority once the free agent signing period begins, Begley also relays. “I don’t think it’s any secret we need to get some size up front, and I think that’ll be a big focus for us,” Fisher said. Potential targets include DeAndre Jordan, David West, Omer Asik, Greg Monroe, and Marc Gasol, Begley adds.
- In addition to a pair of second round draft picks, the Nets also sent $880K to the Hornets as part of the deal to acquire the rights to Argentinian small forward Juan Vaulet, Robert Windrem of NetsDaily tweets. Brooklyn doesn’t intend for Vaulet to play in the NBA next season, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (on Twitter).
- According to multiple sources, the Sixers nabbed North Carolina swingman J.P. Tokoto with the No. 58 overall pick with the understanding that he would either play in the D-League or overseas next season, Jake Fischer of LibertyBallers reports (Twitter links). Tokoto will have the chance to compete for a roster spot, but told Philly he would be open to being stashed during the 2015/16 campaign, Fischer adds.
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The Greivis Vasquez trade allowed the Raptors to generate a $6.4MM trade exception, since they gave him up without taking back any salary in return, notes Pincus (on Twitter), though with Toronto possessing only about $42.4MM in guaranteed salary for next season, it seems there’s a fair chance they’ll dip under the cap after the July Moratorium and renounce the exception.
- The Nets could have created a $1,357,080 trade exception for Mason Plumlee if they decided to use their $2,339,131 Kevin Garnett trade exception to absorb Steve Blake, as Pincus presumes they’ve done (Twitter link). That would knock the Garnett exception down to $982,051. Alternatively, they could have taken Blake into the $3,326,235 Andrei Kirilenko exception and reduced its value to $1,969,155, a move the Nets might have preferred because the Kirilenko exception expires more than two months sooner than the Garnett exception does. The trade meanwhile allowed the Blazers to create an exception worth the $719,920 difference between the salaries of Blake and Plumlee, though that exception would vanish if they go under the cap, as they may well do if LaMarcus Aldridge ends up elsewhere.
- The tiny $355,016 leftover portion of the trade exception that the Knicks generated in last year’s Tyson Chandler trade has expired. New York used the bulk of what was once a $3,637,073 exception to acquire Alexey Shved at the trade deadline. The Tim Hardaway Jr. trade afforded the Knicks the chance to create a new $1,250,640 exception for his salary, as we noted, though that will disappear if the Knicks dip below the cap next month, as expected.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
And-Ones: Looney, Koponen, Plumlee
The Trail Blazers were extremely high on Arizona swingman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, but could not pass on adding a starting-caliber player like Mason Plumlee, whom the team acquired from the Nets in exchange for Hollis Jefferson and Steve Blake, Mike Richman of The Oregonian writes. “We really like Rondae. He’s a terrific young player,” Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey said. “But we just felt like, based on some of the moves we have to make [and] some of the uncertainly regarding some of our unrestricted free agents, the opportunity to get a dynamic young center that’s a little bit more accomplished, that we know we can put on the floor this fall, that can help you win games but still has a tremendous upside because of his age and his athleticism, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Here’s more from around the league:
- The NBA is proceeding with a plan to seed playoff teams one through eight in each conference regardless of division starting with 2015/16, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
- The reason that talented UCLA forward Kevon Looney lasted until the Warriors nabbed him with the 30th overall pick is that he was red-flagged with a degenerative back as well as a hip issue, Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress tweets. Looney may require surgery at some point in his career as a result, Givony adds.
- There’s only a 10% chance that Finnish guard Petteri Koponen signs with the Mavericks this offseason, Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com relays (on Twitter). Dallas holds the rights to Koponen, who was selected with the No. 30 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Anthony, Sixers, Hernangomez
Knicks star forward Carmelo Anthony is upset with the team’s dealings on draft night, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News writes. Anthony’s displeasure centers around team president Phil Jackson selecting Latvian big man Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 overall pick, as well as the trade of Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Hawks in exchange for the rights to Notre Dame combo guard Jerian Grant, Isola notes. Porzingis, while talented, is considered a project who won’t contribute immediately. Anthony told a close friend regarding Porzingis, “Are we supposed to wait two or three years for this guy?” The veteran also reportedly called Hardaway after the trade was announced to express his frustration with the team’s moves, Isola adds. Knicks officials are aware of Anthony’s feelings, the Daily News scribe notes.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic Division:
- The Nets did not dangle forward Bojan Bogdanovic as trade bait in an attempt to move up from the No. 29 overall pick, a league source told Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News (Twitter link).
- Spanish center Guillermo Hernangomez, for whom the Knicks dealt two future second-rounders and cash to the Sixers, will likely play overseas during the 2015/16 campaign, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com relays (on Twitter).
- The Sixers‘ selection of Duke big man Jahlil Okafor with the No. 3 overall pick has done nothing to move the team closer toward contending, Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Ford cites the presence of big men Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid on Philadelphia’s roster, and the team’s needs for outside shooting and backcourt depth as reasons why the pick could be considered a setback in GM Sam Hinkie‘s rebuilding plan.
- With improving their defense a priority this offseason, the Raptors are optimistic about what first round pick Delon Wright can do to help the team in that regard, Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca writes. “We’re really excited about Delon,” GM Masai Ujiri said. “We saw him as a big point guard that can guard and takes great pride in it. [He] still needs to develop even if he’s a four-year [college] player. I think we also see him as a late bloomer a little bit, so we’re hoping there’s a little bit more development there. But he knows how to play. We watched him a lot and we like what he does.“
Brook Lopez Opting Out From Nets
2:36pm: Lopez has indeed opted out, a source tells Bondy (on Twitter). The Nets have made no official announcement, but since players who have player options only need to declare when they’re opting in, not opting out, a formal acknowledgement might not be forthcoming.
12:05am: Nets GM Billy King said that he’s received indication from Brook Lopez that the center is likely to opt out of his deal and become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reports (Twitter link). The move was widely anticipated, including by King, who said, “He’s probably opting out, which was expected.”
Lopez will forgo the $16,744,218 that he was due next season, with the hope that he can secure a long-term deal, and will likely be seeking the maximum, though that is merely my speculation. It makes sense for Lopez to do so given his injury history, though he risks losing an even bigger payday during the summer of 2016 when the salary cap is expected to increase dramatically. Lopez managed to remain on the court for the bulk of the 2014/15 campaign, appearing in 72 contests after only playing in 17 games the previous year due to injury. He averaged 17.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks in 29.2 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .513/.100/.813.
Brooklyn has a hole in its frontcourt with the draft night deal that sent Mason Plumlee to Portland in exchange for Arizona swingman Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and point guard Steve Blake. The Nets will certainly anticipate having competition for Lopez’s services. The Bucks are expected pursue Lopez, with a league source telling Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times during the spring that they thought Lopez might consider opting out and signing with the Bucks, citing his ties to former Nets and current Bucks coach Jason Kidd. The Spurs also reportedly have some level of interest in Lopez as well.