Talks Between Stephenson, Pacers Hit Snag
FRIDAY, 12:55pm: Stephenson’s representatives spoke with the Pacers earlier today, but they’re not any closer to a deal, according to Broussard (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 7:35am: The Pacers and Lance Stephenson have reached an impasse in negotiations, with the shooting guard unwilling to accept Indiana’s offer of five years and $44MM, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The Alberto Ebanks client will move on to discussions with other teams, and the Bulls, Lakers and Hornets have interest, Broussard adds.
Indiana rolled out the red carpet for Stephenson in the hours immediately after free agency began, reportedly producing a movie in his honor as the team sought to win him over. President of basketball operations Larry Bird has spoken on multiple occasions of his affection for the tempermental 23-year-old, in spite of some apparent misgivings from others in the organization. Bird nonetheless prefaced his remarks a month ago by saying the team had a price ceiling that it wouldn’t exceed to re-sign him.
At least one NBA GM believes Stephenson would be worth $10-12MM on talent alone, but his on-court antics and alleged selfish behavior knocked his value down to $8-10MM in the GM’s eyes, as Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reported last month. Another GM pegged him all the way down in the $4-6MM range annually, so it seems like the average annual value of $8.8MM that the Pacers apparently have on the table wouldn’t be much of a sacrifice.
Still, players of Stephenson’s talent rarely hit unrestricted free agency at such a young age, so perhaps he can find a team willing to pay more. A report linked the Lakers, Bulls and then-Bobcats to Stephenson as far back as early February, so it seems those clubs weren’t turned off by Indiana’s second-half swoon.
Eastern Rumors: Wade, Bosh, ‘Melo, Gasol
Happy Fourth of July to our American readers! It remains to be seen if there will be any free agency fireworks today, but with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh hesitant to take discounts, prompting a disconnect between them and LeBron James, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, the fuse has been lit. Here’s more from the Eastern Conference as the market waits to see what James and Carmelo Anthony will do:
- The Bulls remain confident that they’re still in the running to end up as Anthony’s choice, but they sense they’ve lost momentum with the Knicks prepared to offer the max, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Pau Gasol learned when he met with the Bulls on Thursday that he would be a starter if he signed with the team, as Cowley, writing in the same piece, also hears.
- The Raptors have had preliminary talks with Patrick Patterson as they concentrate on securing depth behind Amir Johnson, reports Doug Smith of the Toronto Star. They’re willing to wait before shopping for a physical, defensive-minded wing this summer, Smith adds. Concerns about Johnson’s ability to stay healthy also likely played a role in the team’s decision to fully guarantee Tyler Hansbrough‘s contract, Smith believes.
- The Hornets have expressed interest in signing Ramon Sessions, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). A report late Thursday indicated the opposite, so perhaps Charlotte reached out within the last several hours.
Latest On Luol Deng
The Hawks were reportedly mulling a run at Luol Deng as of last week, and it looks like they’ve indeed moved forward with a pursuit, as coach Mike Budenholzer was set to meet Thursday with the 29-year-old forward, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports. Amick also adds the Rockets to the list of suitors for the client of Herb Rudoy and Ronald Shade.
Deng is seeking $12MM salaries, roughly the same amount of space Atlanta has beneath the cap, Amick writes. Atlanta’s deal with Thabo Sefolosha has apparently boosted the team’s stock with Deng, who has a close relationship with his former Bulls teammate, and Deng is also friends with Hawks sharpshooter Kyle Korver, another former sidekick in Chicago, Amick notes.
Reports on Thursday indicated that the Clippers and Deng had mutual interest and that the 10-year veteran would speak Thursday with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers, who’s searching for sign-and-trade scenarios to upgrade his capped-out roster. Still, it looks like Rivers is demanding too much for Cleveland’s liking for the Cavs to go along with a sign-and-trade involving Deng, Amick says.
Deng is unlikely to make his decision before Carmelo Anthony does, according to Amick, and the Rockets in particular would be inclined to wait as they hold out hope of signing ‘Melo. The Heat, Wizards, Mavs, Suns, Bulls have all been reported to have interest in Deng since the start of free agency, but while Shade has said his client would welcome a chance to re-sign with Chicago, Amick deems the idea of Deng reuniting with the Bulls as a long shot. Washington would only remain in the market for Deng if they can’t come to terms with Trevor Ariza, Amick also says.
Bulls, Thunder In Lead For Pau Gasol
THURSDAY, 10:45pm: The Bulls and Thunder are the most intriguing destinations to Gasol at this time, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports.
10:37am: Stein counters that the Thunder do believe they have a legitimate chance of landing Gasol, though whether he’d take a sizable discount to sign with Oklahoma City remains a question (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 9:00pm: The Thunder view a run for Gasol as a “long shot” since they can only offer the mid-level but they also believe it’s “worth a try,” a source told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo (via Twitter).
8:24pm: Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook made a come-to-OKC pitch directly to Gasol today in Los Angeles, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
7:15pm: Sources say the Bulls’ rising interest in Gasol is a reflection of concern that they can’t convince Carmelo Anthony to leave the Knicks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Stein adds (link) that Gasol is giving legit consideration to joining the Spurs if he looks at places where money is scarce. Gasol likes the Spurs in part because of Gregg Popovich‘s ability to manage minutes as well as the international flavor of the roster, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
6:05pm: The Thunder have come on strong with Gasol and have been described as the “frontrunner” for him, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
5:30pm: The Bulls are zeroed in on wooing Carmelo Anthony, but they’re also eager to add Pau Gasol if things don’t work out on that front. The Spaniard is their top target after the Knicks star and Chicago officials will be traveling to L.A. on Thursday to sit down with him, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
The Bulls and Thunder have emerged as two new top-flight teams in the hunt for Gasol, Stein tweets. Gasol has been drawing considerable interest from multiple suitors since free agency kicked off earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the Spurs are among the teams that made contact with Gasol on Wednesday, according to Joe Goodman of the Miami Herald. LeBron James and Anthony might be stealing the big headlines right now, but it won’t be long before Gasol is among the hottest free agents available.
Carmelo Anthony Rumors: Thursday
Carmelo Anthony is doubling up on meetings again after visiting the Rockets and Mavs on Wednesday. He’s seeing both the Lakers and the Knicks today in Los Angeles. We’ll round up the latest ‘Melo updates here:
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) gets the sense that the Rockets are fully focused on Carmelo and are merely on the outskirts of the LeBron James chase, as much as they’d like to be a factor there.
- The Knicks have concluded their free agent meeting with Anthony, and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link) is reporting that as expected, the team offered Anthony the maximum five-year, $129MM deal that he was eligible to receive.
- Ian Begley of ESPN.com (Twitter link) confirms the Knicks offer as well as the earlier report that the Lakers offered Anthony a four-year, $96MM deal.
- Broussard also tweets that Anthony did not give the Knicks an answer or a timetable tonight. He will take the holiday weekend to think things through.
Earlier updates:
- Anthony has been pursuing a conversation with Pau Gasol about playing together on the Knicks, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The time of today’s meeting with the Lakers was changed, and it might conclude before Kobe Bryant can arrive back in town to be in attendance, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). He’s going to try to meet with Anthony later, Shelburne adds.
- People around Anthony believe he plans on making up his mind this weekend as he spends time at his home in Los Angeles, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- Knicks owner James Dolan won’t be present for today’s meeting, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Team president Phil Jackson, coach Derek Fisher and GM Steve Mills are instead all flying in.
- Rival suitors appear to be increasingly pessimistic about their chances of prying ‘Melo from the Knicks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. But the Lakers, for their part, weren’t short on confidence going into today’s meeting, as Bleacher Report’s Kevin Ding writes.
- Though the Bulls reportedly floated the idea of a $16MM annual salary for ‘Melo, K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune says they didn’t discuss financials much, if at all, with the Bulls instead generally communicating that they’d secure the necessary cap flexibility (Twitter link).
- The Bulls see the Knicks as their only real competition for Anthony, and they’re selling Gasol on the idea that they could sign both him and Anthony, according to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- The meeting that ‘Melo had Wednesday with the Mavs was all business and lacked the elaborate flair that accompanied his visits with Chicago and Houston, as Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details.
And-Ones: Gasol, Knicks, Lakers, Marion
There won’t be a decision from Pau Gasol anytime soon as to where he will be signing, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com. This is despite the pleas and pitches he has received from Carmelo Anthony and numerous teams, notes Aldridge.
More from around the league:
- Gasol will meet with Heat president Pat Riley and coach Eric Spoelstra in Los Angeles, a source tells ESPN.com’s Ramona Shelburne.
- The Lakers have interest in re-signing Xavier Henry, tweets Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. Medina also notes that signing Anthony is the team’s top priority.
- Caron Butler is drawing strong interest from multiple teams but is likely to choose between Heat, Lakers or Spurs, reports Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times (Twitter link).
- The Hornets have not approached point guard Ramon Sessions about a possible return to Charlotte, reports Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link).
- The Heat, Bulls, Mavericks, and Rockets have all expressed interest in signing Shawn Marion, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
- MacMahon also writes that the Mavericks best chance of landing restricted free agent Chandler Parsons is if Anthony signs with the Rockets.
- Now that the Raptors have re-signed Kyle Lowry, they will turn their focus to retaining the services of Greivis Vasquez and Patrick Patterson, writes Eric Koreen of The National Post.
- The Knicks have inquired about Pelicans free agent center Jason Smith, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post.
- According to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link), the Celtics, Clippers, Mavericks, Timberwolves and Heat have reached out to free agent Kris Humphries.
And-Ones: Monroe, Pacers, Rambis, Stephenson
None of the executive, scouts, and agents with whom Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press spoke over the last two years said they considered Greg Monroe worthy of a maximum-salary contract. The reported interest from the Magic is “lukewarm at best,” as Ellis writes amid his look at Monroe’s market value and options. Here’s more from around the league:
- The league projects that the Pacers will wind up having made $7MM in 2013/14, Grantland’s Zach Lowe reports. The league says they’ll have lost $14MM on their own but made $18MM through revenue sharing and another $3MM via luxury tax payouts.
- Lakers assistant coach and head coaching candidate Kurt Rambis has agreed to become an assistant coach for the Knicks, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com. The Knicks had reportedly offered him a four-year deal worth about $1.2MM a year.
- Chicago has spoken with Lance Stephenson, but the Bulls see him merely as a fallback option and feel like his asking price is more than they’ll be willing to pay, reports Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times.
- Agents and union officials are looking to change the perception that stars should take paycuts for the benefit of their teams, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News details.
- The Magic and Suns are pursuing Patrick Patterson, according to David Baumann of CBS Sports Radio Orlando (Twitter links).
- An executive with an Eastern Conference team told Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News that his club was preparing a multiyear deal for Patty Mills but halted its pursuit when news of Mills’ shoulder injury surfaced. Mills wound up with a three-year, $12MM deal from the Spurs.
Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, Bulls, Lakers, Ariza
Carmelo Anthony will meet with the Knicks in Los Angeles today after he finishes his visit with the Lakers, report Chris Broussard and Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Marc Berman of the New York Post had speculated that an L.A.-based meeting between Carmelo and the Knicks could take place, since Anthony, team president Phil Jackson and coach Derek Fisher all have homes in the area. Here’s more on ‘Melo and other news from the third day of NBA free agency:
- The Bulls floated a $16MM annual salary figure to Anthony during their meeting on Tuesday, a source tells Berman for the same piece.
- The Lakers had planned to largely to hold off and hoard cap flexibility for the summer of 2015, but the team has shifted gears and become more “proactive” this summer, Berman also hears.
- Trevor Ariza told agent Rob Pelinka to try to work out a deal with the Wizards before he explored options with other teams, reports Michael Lee of The Washington Post. The Wizards are confident in their ability to re-sign the small forward and don’t plan on any major moves until they strike a deal with Ariza. Still, Broussard counts the Wizards among the teams with interest in fellow small forward Luol Deng (Twitter link), so it seems the team has a contingency plan.
- The Pacers reportedly reached out to Rodney Stuckey, but Broussard hears Indiana has no plans to pursue the combo guard (Twitter link).
- It’s unlikely that the Heat will wind up with as much as $12MM in money to spend beneath the cap, as they’ve reportedly been telling free agents, observes Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick (on Twitter). They’ll probably remain above the cap, according to Skolnick, leaving the $5.305MM mid-level exception as their most lucrative tool.
- The Clippers have strong interest in Toure’ Murry, tweets Chris Herring of The Wall Street Journal, and they’ve spoken with Jordan Farmar, according to Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
Eastern Notes: Billups, Livingston, Carmelo
While Chauncey Billups has a number of coaching, front office, and media opportunities available to him, he hasn’t decided if he wants to retire and walk away from the game just yet, writes Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. “As far as me playing, I feel really good right now for the first time in a long time – in two or three years,” Billups said. “I know that in the right situation, I can really help a team win. But it would take the right situation. I’m not going to play just to play. I have nothing left to prove and I’ve accomplished everything I wanted to accomplish playing basketball, so it would take the right situation for me to play.” The guard spent last season with the Pistons and saw just 19 games of action.
- It sounds like Shaun Livingston had strong interest from several other clubs, including the Heat, before he agreed to sign with the Warriors, tweets Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News.
- Tim Bontemps of the New York Post looks at where the Nets stand after losing Livingston to the Warriors.
- If the Bulls are worried about their chances of landing Carmelo Anthony, that should give an indication of the long odds that the Rockets, Mavs, and Lakers are up against, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. He posits that the Knicks‘ confidence through the process might be justified.
- The Sixers have expressed interest in Kent Bazemore, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. As previously reported, the Jazz, Hawks, Celtics, Mavs, Lakers, Suns, and Bulls also have interest in the guard.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter) gets the sense that the Hornets are unlikely to land a big fish free agent this summer.
Bulls Plan To Amnesty Carlos Boozer?
10:33pm: The Bulls told Boozer it’s a possibility he will be amnestied or used in a sign-and-trade but have made no final decisions, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
10:00pm: Carlos Boozer may have played his last game in a Bulls uniform. A source tells Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that Boozer’s departure is a “done deal” and says that the forward’s camp has been informed of the decision.
Under the amnesty provision, Boozer still will be paid the $16.8MM he’s due next season, but it won’t count against the salary cap. The Bulls, of course, would have preferred to use Boozer’s expiring contract in a sign-and-trade scenario but they haven’t found any suitable offers. The Bulls obviously don’t want to pay Boozer for nothing, but they want to reallocate that space for something better, even if it’s not Carmelo Anthony.
As we learned last night, even if they’re able to convince Melo to come to Chicago, the Knicks have zero interest in taking on Boozer in an S&T deal. Even though others in the Knicks’ front office were warmer to the idea since Boozer’s contract could be used in a mid-season deal for someone like Kevin Love, Phil Jackson didn’t want to entertain the idea.
Of course, nothing has officially happened with Boozer just yet. The amnesty window runs from July 10th through the 16th.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.