Central Notes: Pistons, Cavs, Irving
The Pistons have turned over a third of their roster this offseason, and new president and coach Stan Van Gundy has been the architect of that change. David Mayo of MLive examines the team’s moves and believes Detroit may have lost ground in the Eastern Conference with all the improvements made to the Cavs, Bulls, Hawks, and Hornets rosters.
Here’s more out of the Central Division:
- Van Gundy believes being the president and coach of the Pistons is an advantage when recruiting free agents, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Van Gundy said, “I can present the roster and talk about roles free agents could play. If you’re talking to them as a coach, it’s probably a little more realistic than just the front office — so a slight advantage, but not a whole lot.” Still, Van Gundy does admit that money is the biggest factor, saying “It’s not as much an advantage as money. My experience with the NBA is about 99.9% of the time the guy takes the best contract offer. Most guys aren’t going to make a big sacrifice, so money is No. 1, but then there are all kinds of things after that.”
- With all the buzz about a potential Kevin Love for Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett trade being in the works, Kyrie Irving isn’t worried if the Cavs complete the deal or not, writes Cameron Moon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Irving claims he hasn’t seriously thought about the deal being made, and also said, “There are so many guys who have inside sources. Until it happens and I get the call from our GM, other than that I haven’t really considered anything.“
- The Cavaliers have had quite a busy and surprising offseason so far. The crew at Basketball Insiders (video link) break down all the moves the team made and what they mean for the franchise going forward.
Central Notes: Harris, Gasol, Mirotic, Pacers
Cavs second-rounder Joe Harris has been impressing Cleveland team officials during summer league play, writes Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer. The team can envision signing Harris and using him as a sharpshooter off the bench in a similar role that Mike Miller and James Jones will likely possess, says Pluto. More from the Central..
- Pau Gasol‘s contract the Bulls will pay him $22,346,280 over three years, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. His first year salary is set at $7,128,000, but it’ll increase to $7,448,760 and $7,769,520 in his second and third seasons, respectively.
- Both Gasol’s new deal and Nikola Mirotic‘s recent pact for the Bulls will carry a 15% trade kicker, relays Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times (via Twitter).
- In addition to their escalating talks with free agent Aaron Brooks, the Bulls are also eyeing John Lucas III, reports Stein (on Twitter). Lucas has previously spent time in Chicago, having appeared in 51 games over parts of two seasons.
- Pacers VP of Basketball Operations Peter Dinwiddle was considered a top candidate to land the Grizzlies’ GM job, but he’s opted to retain his current position in Indiana rather than move forward with Memphis, reveals Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
And-Ones: Wiggins, Allen, Brooks
Kobe Bryant told reporters including Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that he was happy with the Lakers offseason efforts, even though they didn’t yield a star addition like Carmelo Anthony (Twitter links). “I think [GM Mitch Kupchak] has responded quite efficiently [from missing on ‘Melo and Pau Gasol] by picking up some of the pieces he has,” said Bryant, who was not as supportive of the front office’s tactics earlier this year. Here’s more from around the league:
- Andrew Wiggins tells Kurt Helin of ProBasketballTalk that he’s unfazed by the rumors swirling around his name and a potential Kevin Love trade (Twitter links). “I let my agent and my support system handle [rumors]; I just love playing the game of basketball and I know the NBA is a business,” said the Cavs No. 1 pick. “I just play basketball, man, wherever I go.”
- Marc Stein of ESPN.com (video link) speculates that the Cavs will ultimately wind up landing Kevin Love. Stein believes Cleveland is currently debating whether or not to sign Wiggins before a deal, since his salary would help even the trade, but would delay the process for trading him another 30 days.
- Ray Allen isn’t in a rush to make a decision on retiring or returning for another year, a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
- The Knicks are considering offering Metta World Peace a training camp invite on a non-guaranteed deal to give the veteran a chance at making the team this year, reports Marc Berman of The New York Post. World Peace is eager to reunite with Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher in New York after being coached and playing alongside the duo during his time in Los Angeles.
- The Bulls have renounced Kirk Hinrich in a maneuver to help provide wiggle room for Chicago’s influx of signings, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com. Hinrich’s agreement to re-sign with the team will be unaffected by the move.
- Free agent MarShon Brooks has hired a new agent, Wallace Prather, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The shooting guard was formerly represented by Seth Cohen of the Original Creative Representation agency.
- Brooks tells Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee that he’s trying to prove he’s an NBA player this summer, after earning a reputation as an undisciplined offense-only talent over his first three years in the league.
International Notes: Bertans, Hamilton, Babbitt
Davis Bertans has signed a three-year contract worth just under €2MM with Spanish team Baskonia, tweets Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The deal has an NBA-out clause in each season that the Spurs, who own Bertans’ rights and have eyed the Latvian for the near future, could pay for without it counting against the cap, presuming it is at or below the $600,000 maximum allowed. Here’s more from around the world:
- Ryan Richards, the Spurs 2010 second-round draft pick, has signed with an Austrian club, the Zepter Vienna team website announced (transcription via Trapani).
- Russian team Lokomotiv Kuban is looking to add Justin Hamilton and Milan Macvan next season, reports Enea Trapani of Sportando. Hamilton has a non-guaranteed salary that the Heat can fully waive prior to August 1st, and partially waive before December 1st. Macvan was drafted by the Cavs in 2011, and has been cool to Cleveland’s interest in bringing him to the NBA.
- Spanish team Unicaja Malaga has offered Luke Babbitt a $980,000 contract if the Pelicans don’t retain him, notes Trapani in a separate report. That amount is nearly identical to Babbitt’s fully non-guaranteed salary in New Orleans, which becomes partially guaranteed at $100,000 if the Pelicans don’t waive him before July 22nd.
Latest On Kevin Love
10:24pm: Multiple league sources are again refuting the notion that Wiggins has been made available in trade talks, telling Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that the Cavs still aren’t budging (Twitter link).
8:25pm: Both Love’s camp and a Minnesota source tell Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities that it’s unlikely a deal happens this weekend (Twitter link).
6:00pm: While the Warriors are denying the report of their willingness to trade Thompson in a package for Love, Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders (video) suggests that Golden State is bluffing in case the Wolves wind up picking the Cavs package above theirs. Koutroupis reiterates that Love’s willingness to opt in for the 2015/16 season gives Minnesota more leverage in asking for Thompson in a trade, and increases the likelihood that the power forward is dealt before the season.
3:27pm: Chris Broussard of ESPN.com is the latest to contend that the Cavs are indeed willing to part with Wiggins in exchange for Love. Cleveland would also part with Anthony Bennett and a 2015 first-round pick, Broussard writes, though the Cavs would have to add more to make a deal work under the league’s salary-matching rules. A trade between the clubs was close at one point, but Minnesota’s demands exceed what the Cavs are offering, according to Broussard. The feeling around the league is that the Wolves are trying to pit the Cavs and Warriors against each other in a bidding war, just the sort of competition Golden State reportedly wants no part of, as we noted below.
11:28am: The Cavs haven’t offered Wiggins for Love, just as the Warriors haven’t offered Thompson for the Minnesota power forward, according to Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press, seconding earlier reports that put the brakes on the idea that one or both were in play (Twitter link). The Warriors want no part of a would-be bidding war against the Cavs for Love, so it appears they’ve decided to set aside Love talks for now, writes Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group.
8:31am: The Warriors aren’t willing to trade Klay Thompson to the Wolves in a deal for Kevin Love, a source insists to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group, insisting that a report from late Thursday that said Golden State was on board with giving up Thompson was untrue (Twitter links). Kawakami had heard from multiple sources throughout Thursday that the Warriors had considered the idea of including Thompson in packages but decided against doing so (Twitter link).
Rumors surrounding Love perked up when a dispatch Thursday afternoon indicated that the Cavs would be willing to part with Andrew Wiggins for love, but another report denied that this year’s No. 1 overall pick is available for a trade. Still, a source who spoke with Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal before the return of LeBron James to the Cavs said that aside from Kyrie Irving, no one on the Cleveland roster was off-limits for a potential trade that would net Love.
Wolves owner Glen Taylor and Cavs owner Dan Gilbert spoke at length this week about a trade, just as Taylor did last month with Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune. The talks between Taylor and Lacob produced a framework of a deal that included Thompson, but Lacob ultimately spiked the idea on the advice of consultant Jerry West, a source tells Zgoda. West is reportedly an opponent of trading Thompson.
Central Rumors: Bulls, Udoh, Oden, Jones
Pau Gasol said he has no worries about the health of Derrick Rose and added that the Knicks had only long shot to sign him as part of an interview with Jesus Sanchez of Marca.com, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune translates (Twitter links). The Bulls are scheduled to introduce Gasol and Nikola Mirotic to fans in a press conference today after agreeing to deals with both this past weekend, and there’s more from Chicago amid the latest Central Division rumors:
- There appears to be mutual interest between the Bulls and point guard Aaron Brooks, as Aggrey Sam of CSNChicago.com details. Sam’s story reveals that Brooks is considering the team, while the headline and Sam’s tweet indicate that Chicago is eyeing the 29-year-old point guard.
- The Lakers’ winning bid for Carlos Boozer was $3.251MM, not just $3.25MM as previously reported, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, giving the Bulls slightly more savings than previously thought. The Bulls will be on the hook for $13.549MM of the $16.8MM remaining on Boozer’s contract, which expires next summer, but it won’t count against the salary cap for Chicago.
- Ekpe Udoh has his sights set on joining a contender, and was close to a deal with the Clippers before they struck a deal with Glen Davis, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (on Twitter). That wouldn’t appear to bode well for any chance the Bucks have of re-signing the big man, who became an unrestricted free agent when Milwaukee declined to make him a qualifying offer.
- The Cavs have interest in Greg Oden, but it’s not clear if they’ve spoken with him or have any plans to do so, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Still, it appears that either the Cavs, LeBron James, or both have been in touch with the free agent center this summer, Amico writes.
- A lack of playing time with the Heat was one reason why James Jones decided to bolt for the Cavs, as Jones said in a radio appearance on The Ticket Morning Show in Miami, tweets Joseph Goodman of the Miami Herald.
Cavs Willing To Trade Andrew Wiggins For Love?
11:53pm: The Warriors are now willing to include Thompson in an offer for Love, reports Yannis Koutroupis of Basketball Insiders. With reports swirling that the Cavs will part with Wiggins, Golden State has given in on their refusal to include Thompson partly because they believe Love is willing to exercise his 2015/16 and in turn extend his stay in the Bay Area for at least two seasons. While no trade is imminent, Koutroupis still expects Harrison Barnes and David Lee to be part of the deal.
7:07pm: LeBron has reached out to Love to tell his former USA Basketball teammate that he’d like them to play together in Cleveland, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
5:52pm: Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio disputes the report that the Cavs have changed their stance on dealing Wiggins, writing that the sides are still not close to a deal for Love. Amico adds that the Cavs are still determined to keep the Kansas product for the foreseeable future and are weighing the caveats of having three max players against the benefits of having young, cheap talent like Wiggins, Bennett and Dion Waiters.
5:06pm: Warriors GM Bob Myers is the one among the team’s brass who’s most open to moving Thompson, while ownership, coach Steve Kerr and consultant Jerry West are resisting, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
4:59pm: There are no indications that the Warriors will up their bid for Love, a source tells Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Ostensibly, that means that they’re still unwilling to include Klay Thompson in such a deal.
3:28pm: The Wolves and Cavs haven’t engaged in conversations of any substance about Wiggins just yet, but things appear to be picking up on multiple fronts, Krawczynski tweets.
2:31pm: The Cavs are OK with giving up Andrew Wiggins in a trade for Kevin Love, having changed their stance against dealing this year’s No. 1 overall pick away, a league source tells Bob Finnan of The News-Herald. The Wolves have reportedly insisted that Wiggins be a part of any deal for the All-Star power forward. The Cavs apparently told Wiggins he wouldn’t be moved, but it seems any such promise might not hold water.
The latest proposal appears to involve Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and a first-round pick, and perhaps Brendan Haywood, too, Finnan writes. Minnesota reportedly quickly rebuffed an earlier package of Waiters, Bennett and a first-rounder.
LeBron James wants the Cavs to acquire Love, a source tells Finnan. The idea of playing with the four-time MVP continues to intrigue Love, who said before James signed with the Cavs that he’d be “100%” on board with staying long-term in Cleveland if James were there, too. Love can opt out of his contract and become a free agent next summer.
The Wolves maintain that they ultimately don’t have to trade Love, even as rival GMs perceive that stance as a bluff, tweets Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press. Some within the Wolves would prefer to see Love walk next summer, giving Minnesota cap flexibility, over a trade in which they would end up with mid-tier contracts in return, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
Central Notes: Love, Allen, Stuckey, Bucks
The reports are pouring in fast and furious on the negotiations between the Cavaliers and Timberwolves for Kevin Love. While conflicting rumors persist, Ken Berger of CBS Sports simplifies it for us in his latest piece. Quite basically, LeBron James wants Love in Cleveland and Minnesota wants Andrew Wiggins for Love. And LeBron usually gets what he wants. Beyond that, Berger points out that these negotiations are a sign of things to come with regard to the leverage James holds within the Cleveland organization.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe weighs in on the talks as well (via Twitter), suggesting that the Wolves should immediately pull the trigger if Wiggins is on the table. However, as Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated tweets, the “general feeling” at summer league was that Minnesota would require more than just Wiggins in a deal for their coveted superstar.
Here are some additional notes from the Central division on Thursday night:
- Mike Miller said in an ESPN Radio appearance that he’s selling Ray Allen on becoming the latest former Heat player to join the Cavaliers, but Allen is still considering retirement and has spoken with multiple teams this month, sources tell Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- The Pacers stayed in touch with Rodney Stuckey all month, the guard told Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star today, seemingly countering a report that made it seem as though the team shied away from him after contacting him early in free agency. Stuckey agreed Wednesday to a one-year deal with Indiana for the minimum.
- Bucks co-owner Wesley Edens revealed the franchise’s minority share owners on Thursday, a list that did not include Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, writes Charles F. Gardner of the Journal Sentinel. Edens didn’t rule out potential for Rodgers’ involvement in the franchise, however. The list contains six local names, corresponding with a May report that the ownership duo of Edens and Marc Lasry hoped to add five to ten investors.
- Jesse Biancarte of Basketball Insiders examines what the loss of Lance Stephenson will mean for the Pacers next season, opining that Indiana has the pieces to maintain their dominance on defense but will struggle to replace the Cincinnati product on the other end of the floor.
Eastern Rumors: Boozer, Blair, Durant
Ethan Skolnick of Bleacher Report details how the Heat’s maneuvers to accommodate the Big Three back in 2010 are now proving costly with the departure of LeBron James. The Heat’s 2015 first round pick–given to the Cavs as part of James’ sign-and-trade to Miami–is still owed to Cleveland, and Miami is still paying Mike Miller‘s amnestied contract while the sharpshooter is on the verge of re-teaming with LeBron in another city. Here’s more from the East:
- The Hawks, reportedly one of the favorites to place a bid on Carlos Boozer, took a step in that direction, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders confirms the team has officially slipped beneath the cap (Twitter link).
- The Mavs promised DeJuan Blair that they would try to sign-and-trade him to give him a financial boost, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, and indeed it appears Dallas is close to sending him to the Wizards via sign-and-trade,
- The Wizards will bring University of Maryland women’s assistant coach David Atkins as an assistant coach for player development, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. A handful of rival executives see it as a sign that Washington has begun to position itself to make a run at Durant, a D.C. native, according to USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt (Twitter link), since Atkins was one of Kevin Durant‘s high school coaches, fellow ESPN scribe Mark Stein notes (on Twitter).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Eastern Notes: Stephenson, Miller, Knicks
Some Pacers players attempted to persuade the team to sweeten its offers to Lance Stephenson, but the front office resisted, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Stephenson agreed early this morning to bolt for the Hornets, and as his new three-year, $27.5MM deal quickly came together, the Pacers never received the opportunity to match Charlotte’s offer, as Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star writes. There’s more on his deal amid the latest from the Eastern Conference:
- The Mavs made a three-year $20MM offer to Stephenson, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). The new Hornets two-guard would have joined the Mavs instead if the Rockets hadn’t passed on matching the Mavs’ offer sheet to Chandler Parsons, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
- The Pacers made two different five-year offers to Stephenson, but he rejected them both, favoring a shorter arrangement, agent Alberto Ebanks tells Buckner (Twitter link). Indiana wasn’t willing to go shorter than five years, Broussard writes in his piece.
- The Nuggets had a three-year, $12MM offer on the table for Mike Miller, but he passed it up for two years and $5.5MM with the Cavs thanks to persistent entreaties from LeBron James, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com details.
- Knicks president Phil Jackson thinks the team has too many guards, and he may end up waiving Wayne Ellington, whom New York acquired in the Tyson Chandler trade, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- The Jazz almost doubled the average annual value of the deal that the Wizards were willing to give Trevor Booker, according to J. Michael of CSNWashington.com.
- The Hawks held on to Pero Antic through Tuesday, meaning his non-guaranteed salary for 2014/15 has become fully guaranteed for $1.25MM. The same is true for Kyle O’Quinn, whose minimum salary with the Magic went from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed when Orlando kept him Tuesday.