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The Bulls And The Salary Cap

July 14th, 2014 at 10:32am CST by Chuck Myron

The Bulls didn’t end up with Carmelo Anthony, but they still wound up making moves that seemingly foretell the end of Carlos Boozer‘s tenure in Chicago. Boozer remains on the roster for now, and it would seem like the Bulls, who prefer to trade him rather than use the amnesty clause to remove his $16.8MM cap hit, will continue to pursue opportunities to make a swap between now and Wednesday, the final day that teams are allowed to use the amnesty clause this year. Still, unless they’re able to trade him or make other drastic moves between now and the end of Wednesday, the Bulls won’t be able to finalize the free agent deals they reportedly have in place unless they go the amnesty route.

Chicago hasn’t officially announced any of its deals since the July moratorium ended, so the team still has $66,277,115 of guaranteed salary on its books, leaving it above the $63.065MM salary cap. That doesn’t count first-round draft pick Doug McDermott, who has a cap hold of $1,898,300 and will almost certainly sign for a salary of $2,277,960. The most powerful weapon the Bulls have as a capped-out team is the non-taxpayer’s mid-level exception, which calls for a starting salary of $5.305MM.

The Bulls have an agreement with Pau Gasol on a three-year deal for more than $22MM, and presuming that figure is accurate, his starting salary wouldn’t fit into the mid-level. The Bulls were apparently pursuing a sign-and-trade for Gasol, but the Lakers renounced his rights to accommodate their trade for Jeremy Lin, which became official Sunday. That doesn’t necessarily preclude the Lakers from signing-and-trading Gasol, but it would make it more difficult, and that’s apparently a route the Bulls and Lakers are no longer pursuing, anyway.

Nikola Mirotic has a deal with the Bulls for three years and more than $17MM, and that figure, too, would require a starting salary of more than the mid-level could provide. Chicago’s other free agent deal so far, a two-year, $5.6MM agreement with Kirk Hinrich, could be completed using Hinrich’s Early Bird rights. Instead, it’ll reportedly be for the room exception, a tool only available to under-the-cap teams. It’s not set in stone that the Bulls will use the room exception on Hinrich, but the report from TNT’s David Aldridge that they intend to do so sheds light on Chicago’s plans.

We don’t know exactly how much Gasol and Mirotic will make next season, but assuming the numbers that have been reported are correct, they’ll likely wind up with at least a combined $12MM for next season. That means the Bulls would have to remove about $17.1MM worth of salary, plus all of their non-guaranteed contracts and all of their cap holds except McDermott’s, to accommodate those deals. That $17.1MM figure is almost identical to Boozer’s salary, so it would be make the math rather simple if Chicago waived Boozer via the amnesty clause. Hinrich’s cap hold, and thus Chicago’s Early Bird rights with it, would be erased in this scenario, but the Bulls could still re-sign him using the room exception, which they evidently plan to do.

Still, Chicago appears to be at work on other fronts, including a trade that will send Greg Smith and his guaranteed salary, worth slightly more than $948K, to the Mavs for little in return. That would make up the difference between Boozer’s salary and our $17.1MM estimate for the amount of salary the Bulls have to clear for Gasol and Mirotic. The Bulls are also apparently continuing to shop Anthony Randolph, according to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Randolph, whom the Bulls acquired when they traded up to nab McDermott on draft night, has a guaranteed salary of more than $1.825MM. The salaries for Randolph and Smith come to about $2.773MM, and if the Bulls could find a way to dump Tony Snell and Mike Dunleavy without taking back any salary, either, they could knock off about $7.527MM. That still wouldn’t take them far enough under the cap to allow them to officially sign Gasol and Mirotic and avoid giving up Boozer one way or another without touching the core of Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, and Jimmy Butler.

So, it’s a safe bet we’ll be passing along the news that Boozer is no longer a Bull sometime between now and the end of Wednesday. Chicago will surely continue to attempt to trade his salary in a deal that doesn’t bring nearly as much salary back, but with Wednesday’s amnesty deadline looming, the Bulls must negotiate against a clock as well as against other teams.

Eastern Notes: Boozer, Garnett, Bradley

July 13th, 2014 at 9:24am CST by Eddie Scarito

With the reported agreement to sign Pau Gasol and the potential stateside arrival of their 2011 draft pick Nikola Mirotic, the Bulls will likely amnesty Carlos Boozer, writes K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago has until the July 16th amnesty deadline to decide on Boozer’s fate. Johnson also notes that the team is still in talks to re-sign veteran point guard Kirk Hinrich.

Central Rumors: Wiggins, Pacers, Mirotic

July 12th, 2014 at 7:47pm CST by Cray Allred

The Central Division has been reshaping the past few days, with LeBron James and Pau Gasol arriving to the Cavs and Bulls, respectively. Here’s a rundown of the division:

If Andrew Wiggins is set to be traded in a deal for Kevin Love, David Blatt doesn’t know anything about it, reports Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter). “He’s not going anywhere, as far as I’ve heard,” said the Cavs‘ soon-to-be first-year coach.
LeBron’s two-year contract with the Cavs is purely a business decision and doesn’t indicate any hesitancy from James to finish his career in Cleveland, a source tells Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. Zillgitt explains how James could maximize his earnings with a series of short-term deals in the coming years.
The Cavs renounced their rights to Luol Deng, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. The move clears Deng’s cap hold with Cleveland and forfeits their right to exceed the cap to sign him, but it clears the cap room necessary for Cleveland to sign LeBron. Deng has long been expected to sign elsewhere this summer, and is in serious talks with the Heat.
The Pacers are interested in obtaining Suns point guard Goran Dragic, potentially in a sign-and-trade agreement involving Lance Stephenson, writes Mitch Lawrence of New York Daily News.
The Pacers would also be interested in Carlos Boozer, should he get amnestied by the Bulls, writes Lawrence.
The Bulls were offered a late top-10 2014 draft pick for Nikola Mirotic and declined, tweets Eric Pincus of The Los Angeles Times.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Pau Gasol, Bulls Close To Agreement

July 12th, 2014 at 4:28pm CST by Cray Allred

4:28pm: Gasol is close to joining the Bulls, but it won’t be through a sign-and-trade, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.

3:23pm: Dunleavy won’t be included in any sign-and-trade for Gasol, tweets Wojnarowski. Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle hears the Rockets’ most likely role in the suggested deal would be to take on expiring contracts (Twitter link).

3:04pm: The Lakers appear to be in line to get “one or two picks” in a sign-and-trade for Gasol, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter), who adds that Houston might be involved in the deal in some fashion as well.

10:30am: The sign-and-trade discussions with the Lakers have involved sending Dunleavy and the non-guaranteed contracts of Mike James, Louis Amundson, and Ronnie Brewer to Los Angeles for Gasol, reports K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. The possibility remains that the Bulls could work out agreements to acquire both Gasol and Anthony, but appears increasingly slim, per Johnson.

10:24am: A deal should be complete today, tweets David Aldridge of NBA.com. The mechanics of the deal, along with the ultimate implications for Chicago’s pursuit of ‘Melo, are still unknown.

8:12am: Free agent Pau Gasol is working with the Bulls on completing an agreement, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report from Spanish newspaper Marca.com. The deal would rely on the Lakers agreeing to a sign-and-trade with Chicago, and sources tell Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that Los Angeles is holding out for draft compensation to participate in such a deal. LA received a future first-round pick in Friday’s agreement to acquire Jeremy Lin, and the ESPN duo’s sources say the Lakers are looking for the same in exchange for paving Gasol’s path to Chicago.

If the Bulls can’t work out a sign-and-trade for Gasol’s services, the Spurs are still poised as front-runners to acquire the skilled big man, per Stein and Shelburne. The talks indicate that the Bulls have lost optimism of signing Carmelo Anthony, despite reports that they are the Knicks’ only competitor to land the New York free agent, and that the Lakers are resigned to losing Gasol after having several contract offers rejected by him. The Thunder and Knicks are both likely out of the running for Gasol, the ESPN scribes write.

The Bulls have been hoping to find a willing partner to take back the final year of Carlos Boozer‘s contract rather than amnesty him, and Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders has tweeted out his cap calculations that show a Gasol deal including Boozer is possible, albeit complicated (Twitter links). Pincus also identifies Mike Dunleavy‘s contract as a piece that would make the deal work.

Carmelo Anthony Deciding Between Knicks, Bulls

July 12th, 2014 at 11:33am CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 11:33pm: Anthony is still torn between Chicago and New York, and a decision is expected by Monday, tweets Zwerling.

2:40pm: The Lakers get the sense that Anthony is indeed down to just the Knicks and Bulls, but since they haven’t heard from him, they’re holding out hope, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.

2:06pm: The Lakers haven’t been told they’re out of the running for Anthony, a source tells Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 12:15pm: Carmelo Anthony has narrowed his choices to the Knicks and Bulls, a source close to the star forward tells Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling (Twitter link). Presumably that means the Lakers are out of the hunt, though it seems Anthony, who was reportedly expected to re-sign with the Knicks as of two days ago, is a ways off from a decision. He isn’t going to make his call today, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

The Rockets and Mavs also met with Anthony last week, but they were already reportedly out of the running. The primary focus of free agency shifts to Anthony, No. 2 on the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings, now that LeBron James, No. 1 on that list, is headed to the Cavs.

The Bulls would have to make a series of moves to clear the necessary cap space to sign Anthony, and if the Lakers are truly out of the picture, that would seem to make it more difficult for the Bulls to coerce the Knicks into a sign-and-trade. He’s eligible for a starting salary of nearly $22.5MM, and while the Knicks have offered that salary, plus the maximum 7.5% raises over the length of a five-year deal, Anthony has indicated that he’d be willing to take less. He’d have to take significantly less to sign with the Bulls, particularly if the Knicks don’t agree to a sign-and-trade.

Latest On Pau Gasol

July 12th, 2014 at 12:13am CST by Chuck Myron

SATURDAY, 12:13am: The Lakers made a pair of offers to Gasol prior to today that were even higher than the two-year, $10MM figure Wojnarowski cited, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). They were worth $23MM over two years and $29MM over three years, and Gasol rejected them both.

FRIDAY, 11:05pm: According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link), the top two contenders for Gasol are the Bulls and the Spurs. If the Bulls can’t work out a sign and trade with Lakers, it’s likely he goes to Spurs, notes Shelburne.

10:00pm: If Gasol ends up in Chicago, it’s unlikely to be as part of a sign-and-trade with Los Angeles for Boozer, tweets Wojnarowski.

7:40pm: The Hawks are making an aggressive pitch for Gasol, tweets Wojnarowski. Atlanta is reportedly offering $11MM per year, but Gasol will likely pass on the offer, adds Wojnarowski.

FRIDAY, 5:47pm: Gasol has turned down a two-year, $10MM per year deal with the Lakers, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

10:33am: Gasol met Wednesday night with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.

THURSDAY, 8:15am: The Spurs are moving closer to the front of the pack for Gasol, Wojnarowski tweets. The Bulls remain a favorite, as Wojnarowski suggests, and sources indicated to K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune that the Bulls hope to pursue a sign-and-trade with the Lakers involving Gasol and Carlos Boozer. It’s unlikely that the Bulls would give Gasol a deal longer than three years, Johnson adds.

TUESDAY, 2:16pm: The Knicks aren’t entirely out of the running for Gasol, but they’re way behind the Bulls, Thunder and Lakers, a source tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Spurs are on the “periphery,” Berger adds.

1:55pm: The Bulls and Thunder remain the front-runners for Pau Gasol, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter), but Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com conflicts that report as far as the Thunder go, hearing that Oklahoma City believes it merely has a long shot hope for the free agent big man (Twitter link). The Lakers are “lurking” as a possibility for Gasol while the Spurs continue to forge ahead with their pursuit, Wojnarowski adds.

The Yahoo! scribe identified the Bulls and Thunder as Gasol’s most favored destinations late last week, and the 34-year-old met Monday with Thunder coach Scott Brooks. Confusion over Oklahoma City’s standing in the race for Gasol isn’t new, as multiple reports painted different pictures last week. In any case, it seems that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have also been recruiting the Arn Tellem client, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported last week.

The Bulls have pitched Gasol on the idea that he would start for them, while the Lakers have used the notion that he’ll be back with them next season as part of their recruiting efforts with other free agents, confident he’d return if they can sign Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. The Spurs envision signing him for the $5.305MM mid-level exception, and Gasol would reportedly consider San Antonio if he decides to sign for less than he could receive elsewhere. The Thunder also appear to be in the mix at the mid-level unless they can work a sign-and-trade, but the Bulls might be able to offer more if they amnesty Carlos Boozer, and the Lakers hold his Bird rights.

Eastern Notes: Hairston, Bazemore, Heat

July 11th, 2014 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

First-round draft pick P.J. Hairston told Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer that he had no idea his agent, Juan Morrow, wasn’t union-certified, as Kami Mattioli of The Sporting News reported Thursday. It’s unclear if the Hornets, who acquired Hairston in a draft-night trade with the Heat, engaged in negotiations with Morrow, but they’d be subject to a $50K fine if they did, as Mattioli notes.

Bulls Pursuing Dwyane Wade

July 11th, 2014 at 4:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:31pm: A person close to Wade tells ESPN’s Mark Jones that the shooting guard has no interest in playing for the Bulls, adding that Wade recently sold the house he had there (Twitter link).

3:20pm: The Bulls are “gauging interest” with Dwyane Wade, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’s not clear whether Wade, a Chicago native, would be receptive to a homecoming, given his longstanding ties to the Heat, for whom he’s played his entire NBA career. Wade spent Thursday with LeBron James in an apparent attempt to recruit him back to the Heat, but with James off to the Cavs and Chris Bosh nearing a commitment to the Rockets, the Bulls want to see whether a third member of Miami’s star trio is also willing to leave South Beach.

Wade, 32, has seen his game decline in recent years as trouble with his knees has arisen. Still, he remains a dangerous force, having averaged 19.0 points, 4.7 assists and 4.5 rebounds this past season. He’s No. 7 in the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.

The Bulls are one of two teams that Carmelo Anthony, who’s No. 2 on that free agent list, is reportedly deciding between as he makes his choice of where to sign. The Bulls have also been in hot pursuit of Pau Gasol, and are a favorite for him, too.

Wade passed up two years and about $42MM left on his deal when he opted out in June, ostensibly to help the Heat re-sign James. He’ll have a tough time finding a deal with salaries anywhere close to what he would have made.

Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, LeBron, Morrow, Blake

July 10th, 2014 at 8:53pm CST by Charlie Adams

Phil Jackson might be expecting Carmelo Anthony to rejoin the Knicks, but ‘Melo hasn’t ruled out the Bulls just quite yet, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Meanwhile, the Heat expected to have had an answer from LeBron James by this point, according to Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick. James was frustrated with some of coach Erik Spoelstra‘s strategy during the Finals this year and wasn’t impressed with team president Pat Riley‘s end-of-season press conference last month, Skolnick adds.

While the NBA world waits on the decisions of superstars like Anthony and James, let’s round up the latest from free agents all around the league..

Anthony Morrow has received interest from several teams, but it appears he’s deciding between joining the Clippers, Heat, Wizards, Raptors and Suns, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com, who adds that each of the teams Morrow is considering would be willing to use some or all of their mid-level exception to sign him (Twitter links). Given that the Clippers and Heat have both used up the full amount of their mid-level exceptions, signing Morrow would likely require a sign-and-trade to complete.
The Warriors took “another” look at DJ White today, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter), thereby implying it’s at least the second time Golden State has looked at the big man. White had his rights renounced by Charlotte earlier today.
Other teams submitted much stronger bids for Steve Blake but he “desperately” wanted to play for the Blazers, as he agreed to do today, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). The Lakers weren’t among the teams making an aggressive play for the point guard, as they offered only the minimum salary, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times hears.
The Jazz, Pelicans, Rockets, and Nets are interested in Francisco Garcia, a source tells Haynes (Twitter link).
The Wolves are making an effort to sign Evan Turner to one-year deal, a source tells tells Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com. Turner played poorly last season after being shipped to Indiana at the trade deadline.
The matter of whether Mike Miller will re-sign with the Grizzlies will likely come down to contract length rather than salary, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who writes in subscription-only piece. Memphis wants him back on a two-year deal, but Miller is pushing for three or four seasons.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey has been in contact with Paul Pierce‘s representatives at Excel Sports Management, but it’s unlikely the veteran forward ends up in Houston, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Alex Lee and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Thursday

July 10th, 2014 at 7:52pm CST by Alex Lee

Knicks president Phil Jackson spoke with New York media and indicated that he expects Carmelo Anthony to re-sign with the team today, writes Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Jackson met with his star player last week in Los Angeles, where the two apparently “struck a chord” about their vision for the future of the franchise. This news agrees with a report we heard yesterday that Anthony was ready to announce his commitment to stay in New York, though there were additional reports suggesting he was still considering other destinations.

Here are more Carmelo-related rumors from Thursday:

While it’s been widely reported that the Knicks offered Anthony a five year, $129MM pact, Jackson said on Thursday that there are five different ways the deal could be structured, Iannazzone adds. Jackson also indicated that none of the five versions of the deal figure to have a huge impact on the team’s future cap flexibility.
Jackson said that he’s texted Anthony since their meeting last week but has yet to hear back, tweets Chris Herring of the Wall Street Journal. Referring to Jackson’s indication that he expects a decision on Thursday, Herring implies (via Twitter) that Jackson has expected this to be resolved for days now.
According to James Worthy, the Lakers pitch to ‘Melo centered on selling Anthony’s wife on Los Angeles, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Worthy was part of the group that met with Anthony and still believes he is considering L.A.
Anthony has regained interest in the Bulls after leaning elsewhere, according to Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald, who indicated head coach Tom Thibodeau has played a major role in reigniting that flame. McGraw adds that, internally, the Bulls have been trying to figure out how to close Anthony, which in turn could lead to them starting sign-and-trade talks (all Twitter links here).