Chicago Bulls Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Eastern Notes: Okafor, Mickey, Aldridge

July 23rd, 2015 at 10:35pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Sixers first-rounder Jahlil Okafor is preparing himself to be the focal point that Philadelphia will build around, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders writes. “I’m definitely used to being the centerpiece of a team,” Okafor said. “That’s what I’ve become accustomed to. That’s what I’ve been working so hard for.” Philly point guard Isaiah Canaan is excited about the possibilities Okafor brings with him to the team, Kennedy adds. “He’s going to open up everything,” Canaan said of Okafor. “He’s a big presence on the post. He can score the ball and he can pass. With a big guy who can do that and draw a lot of attention, he’s going to open up everyone else on the team and he’s going to be big piece for us. You always need a big man on the team. Next to point guard, that’s the most important piece. To have Big Jah and hopefully [Joel] Embiid – if he can come back fully healthy next year – not to mention still adding other pieces, we’ll be fine and have a lot of great players on this team.”

Here’s more out of the Eastern Conference:

The first two seasons of Jordan Mickey‘s four-year deal with the Celtics are fully guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets. The forward is set to earn $1,170,960 this season, followed by salaries of $1,223,653, $1,276,346, and $1,329,039, Pincus adds.
Ronald Roberts‘ two-year agreement with the Raptors includes a partial guarantee for $75K, Pincus relays (on Twitter).
The final season of Mike Dunleavy‘s three-year pact with the Bulls, which is scheduled to pay him approximately $5.18MM, is only partially guaranteed for $1.66MM, Pincus tweets.
The cancellation of the scheduled meeting between LaMarcus Aldridge and the Knicks was due to New York’s desire for Aldridge to play exclusively at center, a position he is not fond of, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork writes. “They didn’t want to meet with me,” Aldridge said. “Some people said it was me. But it was both parties agreeing that we shouldn’t meet.” League sources informed Begley that Knicks president Phil Jackson decided to cancel the meeting when it became clear that Aldridge had no desire to man the pivot on a nightly basis.

Central Notes: Kaun, Dunleavy, Brooks

July 18th, 2015 at 2:02pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Cavaliers invited draft-and-stash center Sasha Kaun to join GM David Griffin and other team personnel in Las Vegas this weekend to discuss the possibility of Kaun signing with the franchise and joining the NBA this coming season, Joe Vardon of The Northeast Ohio Media Group writes. While Cleveland is interested in having the big Russian join its roster, the Cavs’ salary cap situation limits how much they can offer Kaun, a sum which certainly wouldn’t equal the $2.9MM annual salary he earns playing for CSKA Moscow, Vardon adds. For Kaun, the money disparity isn’t a dealbreaker, with Kaun telling Vardon, “That’s probably something that shouldn’t be a problem. Hopefully coming to this team, it will give us an opportunity to win, and winning is more important to me than money. I don’t think I want to do it [play basketball] because of the money. Just play basketball and enjoy it and play with some really great players. That’s the more important thing.”

Griffin confirmed the Cavs’ interest in the 30-year-old big man, saying, “We would love to have him if something could be worked out.” The GM also acknowledged the challenge in signing Kaun due to budgetary constraints, Vardon notes. “It’s difficult because he’s coming off making an incredibly large amount of money and he is literally a first-team, all-Euroleague-caliber center, and it’s a difficult proposition to come to a team like ours for the type of money we have to offer,” Griffin continued.

Here’s more out of the Central Division:

Mike Dunleavy‘s three-year deal with the Bulls will pay him $4.5MM for the 2015/16 campaign, $4,837,500 in 2016/17, both seasons being fully-guaranteed, and $5.175MM the final season, which is partially guaranteed, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
The Bulls‘ one year pact with Aaron Brooks will see him earn $2.25MM this coming season, and it gives him the power to veto trades, Pincus notes (on Twitter).
Aron Baynes will earn $6.5MM in each of the three seasons covered in his deal with the Pistons, with the final year being a player option, Pincus tweets.
Brazilian big man Cristiano Felicio‘s contract with the Bulls is for two years, and he will earn $525,093 in 2015/16 and $874,636 the following season, according to Pincus.

Central Notes: Butler, Ellis, Young

July 17th, 2015 at 9:32pm CST by Eddie Scarito

There had been rumblings toward the end of the 2014/15 season that there was tension between Jimmy Butler and Derrick Rose, with Rose supposedly becoming frustrated with Butler’s expanded offensive role with the Bulls, rumblings that Butler categorizes as false, Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes. “I think he’s always been supportive of me being aggressive, especially on offense,” Butler said. “We all know that I’ll be the aggressor on defense. So from what I can tell, the guy’s always been in my corner.”

The swingman believes the only reason his relationship with Rose was even discussed is because of Chicago’s season ending on a disappointing note in the NBA playoffs, Friedell adds. “The only reason that it came up is because we lost,” Butler said. “I don’t think we have any beef or whatever you want to call it. I think we just want to win. We didn’t win, so now [people say] we’re beefing, now we have a problem with each other, and I don’t think that’s the case.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

The league has temporarily disallowed the four-year deal worth approximately $44MM that Monta Ellis inked with the Pacers, Zach Lowe of Grantland reports in a series of tweets. Lowe is quick to stress that Ellis will indeed become a member of the team, but Indiana simply ran out of necessary cap room, and will need to change the order in which some other transactions are finalized to make Ellis’ deal work.
The salaries that Ellis is set to earn with that Pacers contract are $10.3MM this coming season, $10,763,500 in 2016/17, $11.227MM in 2017/18, and he has a player option for the final season worth $11,690,500, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
Pacers 2015 second-rounder Joseph Young will be paid $1,007,026 and $1,052,342 the first two years of his deal, both of which are fully guaranteed, and $1,097,658, which is non-guaranteed, during the 2017/18 campaign, Pincus relays, adding that a fourth season, worth $1,142,974, is a team option (Twitter link).

Bulls Sign Aaron Brooks

July 14th, 2015 at 5:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 14TH, 5:26pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced in a press release.

JULY 9TH, 10:47am: The deal won’t be for the minimum, but instead for slightly more than $2MM, reports K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (on Twitter). Chicago will use a portion of its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception, Johnson adds.

JULY 7TH, 1:08pm: The Bulls will re-sign Aaron Brooks for one year at the minimum salary, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brooks could have signed for 20% more than the minimum via Non-Bird rights, but Chicago gets a break as its poised to pay the tax thanks in large measure to its deals with Jimmy Butler and Mike Dunleavy.

The 30-year-old Brooks served as Chicago’s primary backup point guard this past season, even starting 21 games, but little chatter surrounded his free agency, surprisingly, as his sparse rumors page shows. The Bulls thus keep their primary backcourt contributors in house, with Derrick Rose and Tony Snell under contract, Butler having agreed to re-sign and Kirk Hinrich having opted in.

Butler, a seven-year veteran, will nonetheless see a slight raise, from $1,145,685 to $1,270,964. The Bulls need only pay $947,276, the equivalent of the two-year veteran’s minimum, with the league picking up the rest. The disadvantage of the one-year deal is that Chicago can’t trade him without his consent, as he’d lose his Early Bird rights if he were traded, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).

Bulls Re-Sign Mike Dunleavy

July 14th, 2015 at 5:21pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 14TH, 5:21pm: The deal is official, the Bulls announced via a press release.

9:08am: The sides have reached agreement, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). It’ll be $14.4MM over the course of the three years with a partial guarantee on the final season, Wojnarowski also tweets.

JULY 1ST, 8:16am: The Bulls and Mike Dunleavy are close to a three-year, $15MM deal, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Chicago has remained the favorite even as other teams were poised to give chase. LeBron James apparently prompted the Cavaliers to pursue the client of outgoing Wasserman agent Arn Tellem, while the Wizards and Clippers also reportedly had interest.

Chicago has Early Bird rights on Dunleavy, and it would seem they’re putting them to use here. The Cavs were likely limited to no more than the taxpayer’s mid-level of $3.376MM, and while the Wizards could have spent their $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level, the Bulls appear to have come up with a comparable figure. That’s even though Chicago is poised to pay the tax, too.

Kings Sign Marco Belinelli

July 13th, 2015 at 9:58pm CST by Chuck Myron

July 13th, 9:58pm: The signing is official, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

July 3rd, 4:05pm: The deal wouldn’t fit within the mid-level exception, Stein notes via Twitter. That exception would only allow for a total of $17,129,640 over three years, and while it’s not uncommon for initial reported figures on deals to be off, this appears to be confirm that the contract will exceed the exception amount. That means the Kings will likely use cap room and lose the ability to create trade exceptions for the three players they’ve agreed to trade to Philadelphia, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (on Twitter).

NBA: San Antonio Spurs at Detroit Pistons

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

1:36pm: The Kings and Marco Belinelli have reached agreement on a deal worth $19MM over three years, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The contract will include no option clauses, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Sacramento will likely use part of the cap space it’s set to clear in the wake of its trade agreement with the Sixers, though the deal is cheap enough to fit within the $5.464MM mid-level exception if the Kings choose to operate as an over-the-cap team.

The Hornets had reportedly planned a strong pursuit, and the Warriors had interest, too. The Heat put in a call to express their interest in the client of Sam Goldfeder and Jeff Schwartz, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link), but Miami, like the Warriors, is likely limited to no more than the $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception. The Bulls might have gone after him if they’d have failed to sign Mike Dunleavy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote, but they, too, would likely have been limited to the taxpayer’s mid-level.

Belinelli wanted to re-sign with the Spurs, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News heard (Twitter link). They were armed with Early Bird rights to bring him back on a deal comparable to the one he’s getting from the Kings, but they’re in hot pursuit of LaMarcus Aldridge, and may well have had to renounce Belinelli’s rights to squeeze Aldridge under the cap.

Sacramento moves on from having missed out on Monta Ellis and Wesley Matthews with a proven three-point marksman who’s nailed 39.2% of his attempts from behind the arc for his career. Still, outside of two seasons in New Orleans, he’s primarily been a reserve during his eight years in the NBA.

Bulls Sign Cristiano Felicio

July 12th, 2015 at 5:04pm CST by Will Joseph

The Bulls have signed big man Cristiano Felicio, who is from Brazil and is currently playing on Chicago’s summer league team, the Bulls announced in a press release.

“We’ve been impressed with Cristiano’s work ethic and potential,” said GM Gar Forman. “We’re looking forward to working with him and having him come to camp with us this fall.”

K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune tweets Felicio will come to training camp on a make-good deal.

Free Agent Roundup: Thompson, Sloan, Datome

July 12th, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Cavaliers GM David Griffin remains optimistic the team will retain restricted free agent Tristan Thompson, Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio reports. “I think we’ll wind up getting something done,” Griffin told the Cleveland media. Amico opines that Thompson should take the reported five-year, $80MM contract that Cleveland has offered him, given that the club already has three max-level players in LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. It may come down to the Cavs having to match an offer sheet for the power forward, Amico adds.

In other free agent news:

Donald Sloan is discussing a contract with the Spurs, Bulls and Mavericks, league sources told RealGM’s Shams Charania (Twitter link). Sloan spent the past two seasons with the Pacers and averaged 7.4 points, 3.6 assists and 2.7 rebounds in 53 games last season, including 21 starts.
The Pistons are looking to re-sign point guard John Lucas III, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. The Magic, Spurs, Mavericks and Clippers are also interested, Stein adds. Lucas would give the Pistons four point guards along with Reggie Jackson, Brandon Jennings and Spencer Dinwiddie.
Luigi Datome‘s Eurobasket profile has the free agent forward signing with Khimki Moscow but Eurobasket.com’s David Pick is skeptical, adding that Datome might wind up with CSKA Moscow if he plays overseas (Twitter links). Datome played for the Pistons and Celtics last season.
Fuquan Edwin drew interest from three NBA teams after he scored 16 points and made two steals for the Pelicans’ summer league team, Adam Zagoria of SNY.TV tweets. The former Seton Hall shooting guard played for Guaros de Lara in the Venezuelan league last season.

Central Rumors: Drummond, Butler, Pacers

July 12th, 2015 at 9:06am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons will begin extension talks with center Andre Drummond this summer with the aim of signing him to a long-term deal, most likely for the max, Terry Foster of the Detroit News reports. The Pistons want to lock up their franchise player even though they could have more flexibility to sign free agents and make trades next summer by waiting to re-sign him when he’s a restricted free agent, Foster continues. The incentive for Drummond is to get the guaranteed money now in case he suffers a significant injury, Foster adds. Money is apparently no object to get an agreement. “We have until the end of October so we will get into those talks in the next couple of weeks,” Pistons president of basketball operations and coach Stan Van Gundy said during a press conference. “What you are talking about there is more timing than anything. It is not like you will be haggling over dollars, so it is a different situation.”

In other news around the Central Division:

Van Gundy admitted he took “a little bit of a gamble” with his commitment to point guard Reggie Jackson, who has never started a full season, John Niyo of the Detroit News writes. Jackson, a restricted free agent, agreed to a five-year, $80MM deal without any options to be the team’s floor leader going forward. Van Gundy wanted to have Jackson for the long haul. “You’ve got to weigh in future years,” Van Gundy told the Detroit media. “Most of the guys who signed free-agent contracts [this July], they’ve got an out after year three or four. We were willing to pay more money to not have the out.”
Jimmy Butler received a $4.6MM signing bonus when he re-signed with the Bulls, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets. Butler stayed put with a five-year deal worth approximately $95MM. A 5% trade kicker is another element to the contract, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
The Pacers will use cap room to re-sign guard Rodney Stuckey since they renounced his non-Bird rights, Pincus reports. They also renounced their rights to Andrew Bynum, David West and Luis Scola, among others, Pincus adds (Twitter links). Stuckey agreed to a three-year, $21MM deal to remain with Indiana.

Jimmy Butler Re-Signs With Bulls

July 9th, 2015 at 11:25am CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 9TH, 11:25am: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.

“We are thrilled that Jimmy has committed to remain a Chicago Bull for years to come,” GM Gar Forman said in the press release. “As one of the leagues rising stars, we look forward to his continued growth and him being a major contributor to our team’s continued success.”

JULY 1ST, 1:21pm: Jimmy Butler and the Bulls are finalizing a max contract for five years with a player option after year four, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). It’ll be worth an estimated $95MM, according to Wojnarowski, with the precise value to be determined, when the deal can become official at the end of the July Moratorium next week. Other teams pursuing him have given up the chase, Wojnarowski adds. The client of Happy Walkers and Steve McCaskill was strongly leaning toward taking Chicago’s five-year offer, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com had reported earlier, and it long appeared as though the Bulls would keep him, with the power to match offers and the willingness to pay the max.

Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

The restricted free agent reportedly intended to seek short-term offer sheets, but wound up re-signing with Chicago on a deal that won’t allow him to choose free agency until 2019. Still, when the Bulls tendered a maximum qualifying offer, that meant Butler couldn’t sign an offer sheet that would let him into free agency sooner than 2018, and he apparently put off meetings with the Lakers, Sixers and Mavs when that offer from Chicago came in. The only recourse would have been to sign his standard qualifying offer, worth less than $4.434MM, and while that would have let him into unrestricted free agency next summer, it would have been a profound financial sacrifice for this coming season.

Butler already gambled on himself when he passed up $11MM salaries on a proposed extension with Chicago this past fall. The former 30th overall pick apparently would have settled for between $12.5MM and $13MM a year at that point, but his performance this season, which earned him this year’s Most Improved Player of the Year award, sent his value skyrocketing.

The result will cost the Bulls even more than the difference between what he might have taken in an extension and an estimated $16MM starting salary for this coming season. Chicago, which also agreed to a three-year, $14.4MM deal with Mike Dunleavy today, is almost certain to pay a stiff tax bill, since it entered free agency with $63MM already against a tax threshold likely to land somewhere around $82MM when the league sets it at the end of the moratorium.