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Western Rumors: Wolves, Lakers, Lillard, Barnes

November 21st, 2012 at 8:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Fans in Minnesota will have something extra to be thankful for on the holiday tomorrow, after John Krawczynski of The Associated Press broke the news of Kevin Love's surprise return to the lineup for the Timberwolves tonight, between two and four weeks ahead of schedule (Twitter links). It seemed like the Wolves were close to becoming eligible for a hardship exemption that would allow them to sign a 16th player to their roster, when Brandon Roy joined Love, Ricky Rubio and Chase Budinger on the list of those expected to miss significant time. Now it appears Minnesota will have to make do with the standard 15, a trade-off the team will surely take if it means having Love back in action. Here's more from the West, with 14 of the conference's 15 teams in action.

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Central Notes: Bulls, Asik, Cavs

November 20th, 2012 at 5:37pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes from around the Central Division on Tuesday evening:

  • The Bulls are now eligible to sign a free agent despite being up against the hard cap. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune writes that their bench is currently a liability, and there's a chance they will look to the free-agent market for help.
  • Bulls forward Taj Gibson tells Nick Freidell of ESPNChicago.com that the Bulls are feeling the loss of Omer Asik, but they are not using it as an excuse for their poor play.
  • Bob Finnan of the News-Herald writes that the injury to Kyrie Irving will cause a significant setback for the Cavs this season.
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Bulls Eligible To Sign Free Agent

November 19th, 2012 at 8:48am CST by Luke Adams

While today's date, November 19th, doesn't mean a lot for most NBA teams, it's important for the Bulls, who are now eligible to sign a free agent for the veteran's minimum. Because they're hard-capped this season, the Bulls had previously been unable to add another player's salary to their roster.

NBA teams face a hard cap when they spend more mid-level exception money than the $3.09MM available to taxpaying clubs. Non-taxpayers were free to spend up to $5MM on a mid-level player this season, an option the Bulls took advantage of when they signed Kirk Hinrich to a two-year deal with a first-year salary of about $3.94MM.

Since they've used the non-taxpayer MLE, the Bulls must ensure their team salary doesn't amount to more than $4MM above the luxury tax threshold at any point this season. Chicago is right up against that line, with $73,548,398 on the books, per ShamSports — $3,241,398 above the tax line. That puts the difference between Chicago's team salary and the hard cap at $758,602.

Because veteran's minimum contracts are charged to the cap for $854,389, the Bulls had been unable to add a player using the minimum salary exception. However, the minimum salary pro-rates over the course of the year, based on the fraction of the season remaining when the contract is signed. The 2012/13 season is 170 days long, and we're 20 days into it, so a minimum salary contract signed today would only be worth 150/170 of $854,389. That amount? $753,873, enough to squeeze inside the Bulls' hard cap.

We heard over the weekend that the Bulls are eyeing Jannero Pargo. Kyrylo Fesenko or other camp invitees that were cut by Chicago last month could also draw renewed interest. Of course, there's no rush for the Bulls to immediately add a player — the team could potentially sign multiple players to minimum-salary or 10-day contracts later in the season when the cost is further reduced.

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Jannero Pargo Drawing Interest From Bulls, Others

November 17th, 2012 at 8:39am CST by Luke Adams

Since being waived by the Wizards on Thursday, Jannero Pargo has received interest from a handful of clubs, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com. According to Charania, the Bulls are among the teams to express some interest in Pargo, and Bartelstein expects to talk to them and others in the next few days.

Because Pargo was released on Thursday, he's expected to clear waivers today. It's possible that a team simply claims his contract on waivers to avoid negotiations, but that would mean assuming the partial guarantee that was included in his Wizards deal. As such, it's more likely he becomes an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any club.

After a solid season in Atlanta in 2011/12, Pargo was off to a poor start in Washington this year, resulting in the Wizards' decision to cut him to clear a spot for Shaun Livingston. Despite having a chance to earn playing time while John Wall was sidelined, Pargo averaged just 3.0 PPG in 14.6 MPG, shooting 25% from the floor in seven contests (all losses) for the Wizards.

Any team interested in taking a flier on the 33-year-old point guard would be hoping for a return to 2011/12 form, which saw him post a career-high 13.6 PER. His mark in this year's small sample size is 0.3.

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Bulls Notes: Bench, Rose, Asik

November 16th, 2012 at 5:35pm CST by Sean Highkin

The latest news and notes around the Chicago Bulls on Friday afternoon:

  • Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com writes that the Bulls' defense is suffering from the loss of key reserves Omer Asik and Ronnie Brewer this summer.
  • Jeremy Bauman of Sheridan Hoops calls the Bulls' 5-3 start to the season with Derrick Rose sidelined one of the surprises of the early season.
  • Expect to see more poison pill offer sheets in the future like the one Asik received this summer, says Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (Sulia link). Since the signing team has the option to spread out the cap hit evenly rather than assuming the "poison pill" part of the deal, it makes sense that teams will continue to make things as hard on the free agent's old club as possible. Of course, as ESPN.com's John Hollinger points out (via Twitter), the ability to include a poison pill in an offer sheet only applies to Arenas Rule players, who aren't all that common.
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Eastern Notes: Turner, Fields, Heat, Boozer

November 16th, 2012 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

We've already had one update out of the Eastern Conference today, with ESPN.com's Marc Stein reporting that the Raptors have Mickael Pietrus on their radar. Let's round up a few more Friday morning items from the East….

  • Evan Turner spoke to Bob Cooney of the Philadelphia Daily News about the adjustment from "standing out to fitting in" that he'd made since being drafted second overall by the Sixers in 2010. "I want to get minutes on the court and help the team out," Turner said. "Sometimes people don't think that's something that a guy who was the second pick would do. But here that's what I'm seen as and that's what I'm going to do to the best of my abilities."
  • Landry Fields got off to a terrible start with the Raptors, but given his elbow issues, it's unfair to call him a bust at this point, writes Stephen Brotherson of HoopsWorld. According to Brotherson, it will be at least another month or two before the team will really be able to tell what kind of player it signed.
  • In his latest mailbag, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel says a defensive-minded point guard is still something the Heat could use.
  • Sam Smith has his own mailbag up at Bulls.com, heavy on Chicago content. Among the highlights: Smith writes that every indication he's gotten to date indicates the Bulls don't plan to amnesty Carlos Boozer next summer.
  • Although he acknowledges it won't happen, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio suggests the Heat should consider trading Dwyane Wade, since a team like the Kings or Hawks would give up plenty of young talent and assets for the perennial All-Star, and the Heat could win without him (all Twitter links).
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Eastern Notes: Lopez, J.R. Smith, Wall, Harkless

November 14th, 2012 at 10:37pm CST by Chuck Myron

It was a successful night for a pair of teams at the bottom of the Eastern Conference, as the Pistons blew out the Sixers en route to their first win after an 0-8 start, while the Bobcats dropped the Wolves for their third win in a row, moving to 4-3. The Wizards failed to join that group, and are the NBA's lone remaining winless team after losing to the Mavericks tonight. There's more on Washington and other news from the East right here.

  • After committing to Brook Lopez this summer, the Nets have raised their expectations of the fifth-year center, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt, who says the team signed Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche so they could help Lopez improve.
  • J.R. Smith said in training camp he wanted to start at shooting guard, but now he says he's "loving" his role as sixth man for the unbeaten Knicks, for whom he's off to a hot start, observes Nate Taylor of The New York Times.
  • As the 0-7 Wizards search in vain for their first win, the frustration is mounting for John Wall, who's without a timetable for a return from a stress fracture in his right knee, writes Jeff Caplan of NBA.com. Wall will be eligible for an extension to his rookie-scale contract next summer.
  • Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel says rookie Maurice Harkless, who missed preseason while recovering from sports hernia surgery, is already starting to show his worth a week after his debut for the Magic.
  • Hedo Turkoglu had hoped to be back from his broken left hand about two weeks from now, but after doctors had to put the hand back in a cast today, he could be out for another month, reports John Denton of Magic.com.
  • Richard Hamilton, whose $5MM deal for next season is only guaranteed for $1MM, could be a free agent next summer, but he's okay with Tom Thibodeau's plans to limit his minutes to keep him healthy, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune notes.
  • The Celtics are considering a D-League rehab stint for Avery Bradley once he's healthy, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com. 
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Odds & Ends: Bucks, Revenues, Colangelo, Rose

November 13th, 2012 at 10:43pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Bucks sit atop the Central Division two weeks into the season, and with the Bulls missing Derrick Rose and the Pacers without Danny Granger, there's a chance they might stay in first place for a while. Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis can become free agents next summer, but they're off to a strong start in their first full season as teammates, observes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Nonetheless, Marcus Thompson II of the Bay Area News Group predicts Ellis won't be with the Bucks next year (Twitter link). While we wait to see how Milwaukee's situation plays out, there's news on Rose and others on a six-game night in the Association.

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Upcoming Guarantee Dates

November 13th, 2012 at 9:23pm CST by Chuck Myron

Most players on non-guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts have January 15th circled on their calendars. As long as they don't clear waivers before that day, their contracts become fully guaranteed. A handful of others without full guarantees are working on a different schedule, as negotiated with their teams. The contracts for the players below become fully guaranteed if they're not waived on or before the dates listed. 

  • Suns: P.J. Tucker1 ($762,195, partially guaranteed for $400K) — December 1st
  • Bobcats: Cory Higgins ($762,195, fully non-guaranteed) — December 10th
  • Wizards: Jannero Pargo2 ($1,229,295, partially guaranteed for $300K) — December 15th
  • Bulls: Nate Robinson2 ($1,146,337, partially guaranteed for $400K) — January 1st

1— Tucker has already moved past one hurdle, as the size of his partial guarantee increased from $150K when he made the opening-night roster.

2— The Wizards and Bulls would only be obligated to pay $854,389, the amount equal to a third-year veteran's minimum, if they keep Pargo and Robinson, respectively, past their guarantee dates. The league would pay the rest since both are on one-year minimum-salary deals. 

ShamSports was used in the creation of this post.

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Odds & Ends: Bynum, Rose, Clippers, Jackson

November 12th, 2012 at 10:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Sixers will have to wait at least a few more weeks to see the debut of Andrew Bynum in red, white, and blue.  The big man is still waiting on his right knee to heal up and isn't expected to be cleared for basketball activity until December 10th.  That will put Bynum on track for a return in the weeks that follow, which could mean that he'll be out of commission for the remainder of the calendar year.  Some might wonder if Bynum is being extra cautious in his walk year, but he shot that notion down earlier tonight, tweets Tom Moore of Calkins Newspapers.  Here's more from around the Association, including other non-Lakers items..

  • Speaking of injured stars, Bulls guard Derrick Rose has started cutting again as he rehabs a torn ACL in his left knee, writes Nick Friedell of ESPNChicago.com.  Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau is encouraged by the development but stressed that Rose isn't necessarily ahead of schedule but rather right where he should be in his recovery.
  • The Clippers' new found depth is allowing them to rest their stars more this season, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.  Forward Blake Griffin is extremely appreciative of the strengthened bench and says that he will be benefitting from the reduced minutes.
  • Reality is sinking in for the Lakers now that they know Phil Jackson won't be their coach (again), writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
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