Mike Miller, Linas Kleiza Clear Waivers
Mike Miller has gone unclaimed on amnesty waivers and will now become an unrestricted free agent, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The same is true for Linas Kleiza, who also cleared waivers, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). Miller and Kleiza were amnestied on Tuesday by the Heat and Raptors, respectively.
It's no surprise that Kleiza didn't draw any interest on amnesty waivers, given his health problems and poor production last season. As Stein notes, he's a good bet to return overseas for the coming season. On the other hand, the Cavaliers were reportedly considering a bid on Miller, but it appears the team decided against it.
Shortly after we heard that the Cavs were mulling a bid for Miller, another report indicated that the veteran sharpshooter is considering surgery to repair bulging disks in his back. Miller has hardly been a picture of good health over the last several seasons, so that's likely true, but it could also have been leaked to scare off non-contenders like the Cavs from making a claim. Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal notes (via Twitter) that Miller "made it clear to people around him" that he wasn't interested in landing in Cleveland.
Even with potential surgery looming, Miller figures to draw interest from contending teams. Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com both list the Spurs, Thunder, and Rockets as potential suitors, while Woj also mentions the Warriors and Windhorst names the Grizzlies (Twitter links).
Mike Miller Suitors Wary Of Possible Surgery
Mike Miller is considering fusion surgery for bulging disks in his back, and that's giving teams pause as they consider whether to submit an amnesty claim for him, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Cavs are strongly considering claiming Miller, and according to Wojnarowski, several contenders are thinking about signing him if he were to go unclaimed. If Miller hits free agency, that would give clubs additional time to have doctors to examine the 33-year-old and for him to express his needs and intentions regarding surgery.
Miller also considered surgery last summer, when he downplayed retirement talk. Miller hasn't had retirement on his mind this summer, either, saying last month that he felt like he could play for four or five more years.
The Cavs are aware of Miller's back issues even as they continue to ponder making a bid, Wojnarowski writes. The Rockets reportedly have interest in him, and the Clippers have been linked to him as well, though presumably those teams would sign him rather than submit a waiver claim. Teams must have cap space to place either a full or partial amnesty bid, and the deadline to do so is 4:00pm Central time Thursday.
Cavs Mulling Amnesty Claim Of Mike Miller
6:28pm: The Cavs have decided to delay their official signing of Andrew Bynum, and that's tied to their pursuit of Miller, according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. The Cavs have postponed Thursday's scheduled signing, as Mary Schmitt Boyer of the The Plain Dealer originally reported, and that's so they can preserve the cap space necessary to make a bid on Miller, according to Windhorst (Twitter link). If Cleveland submits the winning bid for Miller, the team would waive non-guaranteed players to re-open space for Bynum's deal, as Windhorst explains via Twitter.
5:10pm: The Cavs are strongly considering claiming Mike Miller off amnesty waivers, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The Heat used the amnesty clause yesterday to rid themselves of the two years and $12.8MM remaining on his contract. The Cavs, and any other NBA team with cap space, can place a partial bid on that amount. If there are multiple bids, Miller's rights would go to whichever team bid the highest.
Miller, 33, would become a free agent if no team claims him. With the Clippers and Rockets already linked to the 13-year veteran sharpshooter, an amnesty claim might represent the Cavs' best chance to get him.
There have been reports indicating the Cavs are out of cap room, so if they're accurate, the team will have to waive some of its non-guaranteed players to make a bid on Miller. The Cavs can eliminate as much as much as $4,120,814 from their books by waiving C.J. Miles, Chris Quinn and Kevin Jones. They're not allowed to make a trade to open up cap space under the rules of the amnesty provision.
Miller is a friend of former Heat teammate LeBron James, as Wojnarowski notes. The Cavs are gearing up for a run at James next summer, when the four-time MVP can opt out his contract with the Heat, so perhaps that's one of the factors the team is considering as it thinks about claiming Miller.
Contract Details: Bulls, Cavs, Mavs, Nuggets
In addition to new contracts being finalized and signed, there are a few more cap details worth keeping an eye on throughout July. We won't be updating our traded player exceptions list to reflect all the latest deals until the dust has settled a little and each move has been officially completed, but as our list shows, the Bulls had their $5MM Kyle Korver TPE expire overnight.
There are also a number of 2013/14 salaries becoming guaranteed this month, including Kyle Lowry and Lance Stephenson earlier this week. Mavericks second-year big man Bernard James also appears to be guaranteed for the coming year, since he wasn't waived by July 15th, per Mark Deeks of ShamSports.com.
Here are a few more of the latest contract and cap details worth noting, courtesy of Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld:
- Mike Dunleavy's two-year deal with the Bulls is worth the team's full mini mid-level exception, for a total of about $6.51MM. Meanwhile, Chicago second-round pick Erik Murphy gets a two-year, minimum-salary that's not fully guaranteed for either season.
- The Bulls also used the stretch provision on Richard Hamilton, allowing the team to spread his guaranteed $1MM over the next three seasons (Twitter link).
- The Cavaliers signed Jarrett Jack for a flat $6.3MM per season, while Earl Clark received a flat $4.25MM per year (Twitter links).
- Jose Calderon's starting salary with the Mavericks is $6,791,570 (Twitter link). With annual 4.5% raises, that works out to exactly $29MM over four years. Additionally, Gal Mekel's three-year contract with the team is for the minimum and is fully guaranteed.
- J.J. Hickson gets the full mid-level for three years from the Nuggets, which works out to about $16.15MM overall.
- Two players who were involved in the same sign-and-trade transaction have had their numbers confirmed. Randy Foye receives $3MM from the Nuggets in each of his first two seasons before a $3.135MM 2015/16 salary, which isn't fully guaranteed. Andre Iguodala, meanwhile, signed with the Warriors for exactly $48MM over four years, but his salaries will decrease from $12.87MM this season to $11.13MM in the fourth season (Twitter link).
- For the record, that gap between Iguodala's and Foye's first-year salaries should represent the value of the trade exception created by Denver: $9,868,632. I wonder if Iguodala's salary starts so high in part to help the Nuggets create a larger TPE.
Eastern Notes: Knicks, Cavs, World Peace
A source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com that the Knicks have expressed interest in Samuel Dalembert. Knicks GM Glen Grunwald was chatting with Dalembert’s agent from Pinnacle Management Corporation, at Summer League yesterday (Twitter link).
Frank Isola of the New York Daily News believes Isiah Thomas is the best chance the Knicks have to snag Metta World Peace, if he clears waivers, with the remaining $1.7MM from their mini mid-level exception.
Metta recently spoke with Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. They discussed Metta’s working with LeBron James and Kevin Durant as a player development coach, what competition means to him, and why he’s such a big fan of LeBron (all Sulia links)
Here's some more from around the Eastern Conference…
- Jim Baubach of Newsday on why the undrafted C.J. Leslie might be a keeper for the Knicks.
- The Cavs should return to relevance much faster than the NBA standard writes the Akron Beacon Journal’s Jason Lloyd
- Bud Shaw of the Cleveland Plain Dealer on Andrew Bynum and the friction he’s already experienced while on the Lakers with new Cavs head coach Mike Brown.
- Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer with a roundup of what he learned about some of the Sixers’ new additions during Orlando Summer League action.
- Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets that Larry Sanders was cheering on his Bucks teammates at Las Vegas’ Summer League from the bench.
- A noticeably slimmed down Carlos Boozer was watching his younger brother Charles Boozer play for the Bulls Summer League team in Las Vegas today reports K.C Johnson at the Chicago Tribune.
Central Links: Bulls, Cavs, McMillan
The Chicago Tribune's K.C. Johnson spent some time with Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau today, and the coach provided him some insights into the the team's offseason plans–including the signing of the Bucks' Mike Dunleavy.
Of Dunleavy, Thibs said that he complements Derrick Rose and Carlos Boozer "extremely well," and "he moves well with the ball. We think he's a great fit" (Twitter link). Speaking of Rose, whom Thibodeau gushed about last month, the Bulls coach continued to praise his star's progress to Johnson via Twitter. According to Thibs, the summer has given Rose even more time to build his confidence and his leg strength, finally adding "He looks great."
Johnson's conversation with Thibodeau failed to touch on the relationship between Bulls general manager Gar Forman (Twitter link) and former assistant Ron Adams, who the Celtics may be looking to add to their bench.
Here's what else is happening around the Central division tonight…
- Racine Journal Times columnist Gery Woelfel relays the same Thibodeau thoughts on Dunleavy and adds, via Twitter, that the Bulls got a strong endorsement for Dunleavy from his former college coach, Mike Krzyzewski.
- The Cavs appeared to have an excess of front court players after drafting Anthony Bennett with the number one pick and signing Andrew Bynum. That's the roster question the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer answers in her Saturday night mailbag.
- Cavs GM Chris Grant says he's been high on free agent signee Jarrett Jack ever since the guard came out of college. That's when Grant, then a member of the Hawks’ front office, was part of an unsuccessful effort to trade up to select Jack. Bob Finnan of the News-Herald provides details via Sulia.
- Jodie Valade of the Cleveland Plain Dealer opines that the Cavs’ recent draft picks and free agent signings allow them more flexibility and options.
- Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star suggests the Pacers’ biggest off-season move may have been hiring Nate McMillan as an assistant coach.
Odds & Ends: Nets, Celtics, Mavs, Barea
The Nets and Celtics had agreed last month to the framework of a trade that involved Paul Pierce, but not Kevin Garnett, writes Howard Beck of The New York Times. Then, Brooklyn GM Billy King asked Boston counterpart Danny Ainge whether Garnett would be available, too, and the deal began to morph into the nine-player swap that was finalized today. Here's more on an ever-changing NBA landscape:
- The Mavs lost a pair of guards to injury, but they aren't interested in a trade that would bring back J.J. Barea, tweets Darren Wolfson of ESPN 1500 Twin Cities.
- According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), it's
worth keeping an eye on Jordanian forward Zaid Abbas, who may be NBA-bound next
month. Amick adds in a second tweet that Abbas is holding off on signing with a
Chinese team due to optimism about potential NBA workouts in August. - The Rockets hold the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou after acquiring him as part of the Thomas Robinson trade, but the Bucks are among other NBA teams with interest in the 6'9" Greek small forward who "definitely" wants to play in the NBA this season, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link).
- With Marreese Speights, Wayne Ellington and Omri Casspi all joining other teams, the Cavaliers renounced their rights to the trio today, according to the RealGM transactions log. The Cavs did the same with Luke Walton, who remains a free agent.
Cavs No Longer Pursuing Greg Oden
10:55am: Oden is also looking at the Celtics and Bobcats, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
9:17am: The Cavaliers have long been considered one of the frontrunners to sign Greg Oden, but after reaching an agreement with Andrew Bynum, Cleveland is no longer in the running for Oden, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).
Oden has local ties to Ohio, having attended Ohio State and rehabbed in Columbus, and the Cavs' cap space always made the team a logical suitor. However, it makes sense that Cleveland wouldn't have interest in bringing aboard both Bynum and Oden, since both centers are considered strong injury risks.
With the Cavs out of the hunt, the favorites for Oden include the Spurs and the Heat, along with the Mavs, who entered the picture recently. The former No. 1 pick reportedly plans to take his time making a decision, and may not sign until August.
Cavs Sign Jarrett Jack
JULY 12TH, 10:18am: The Cavaliers have officially finalized their deal with Jack, according to a press release from the team.
JULY 6TH, 4:44pm: The final year of Jack's salary is partially guaranteed, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. That may mean it's not a team option as reported below, but that wouldn't necessarily be the case. Gustavo Ayon's deal with the Bucks includes a team option that's already been picked up for this season, but the contract is still non-guaranteed.
3:56pm: The Cavaliers and Jarrett Jack have agreed on a four-year, $25MM deal, a source tells Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group (Twitter link). Jack, like Carl Landry, spent last season with the Warriors, but with Landry set to sign with the Kings, it looks like both are headed for new teams. The last year of Jack's deal will be a team option, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
The Excel Sports Management client helped the Warriors off the bench last season, notching 12.9 points per game on 40.4% three-point shooting. It appears he'll fill the same sixth-man role for the Cavs behind guards Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, according to Windhorst (on Twitter). When I examined Jack's free agent stock this spring, I expected a team with cap space would make him an offer for a $6MM annual salary, and it looks like that's about what happened.
The Warriors, Nuggets and Mavs were among the teams that had contact with Jack on the first day of free agency, and Dallas appeared to be intensifying its pursuit after Dwight Howard turned them down. The Mavs agreed to sign Jose Calderon last night, so perhaps that prompted them to drop out of the race for Jack.
It looked like the Warriors were poised to renounce Jack's Bird rights yesterday, but assuming the Nuggets agreed to a sign-and-trade for Andre Iguodala, they wouldn't necessarily have had to do so, as Luke Adams of Hoops Rumors points out. Now, it's a moot point, since Jack and Landry, Golden State's 29-year-old bench free agents, are headed elsewhere.
It's the second signing of the summer for the Cavs, who also used some of their ample cap space on a two-year, $9MM deal for Earl Clark, as our free agent tracker shows. Jack's is the first of the deals to include guaranteed money beyond next season. Only Anderson Varejao's deal extends beyond 2014, though Jack and first-round picks Anthony Bennett and Sergey Karasev will add to next summer's ledger.
Cavaliers Sign Earl Clark
JULY 12TH: The Cavaliers have officially signed Clark, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 4TH: The Cavaliers and Earl Clark have reached a two-year contract agreement, according to Sean Deveney of the Sporting News (via Twitter). Deveney reports that the deal will pay Clark $9MM over the two next seasons, while TNT's David Aldridge tweets that the second year will be a team option.
After three years of limited playing time in Phoenix and Orlando, Clark had a bit of a breakout season for the Lakers last year, averaging 7.3 PPG and 5.5 RPG in 59 contests (36 starts), while playing significant minutes in place of the clubs' injured bigs.
Cleveland had been in hot pursuit of Clark all week, with Deveney joking yesterday (via Twitter) that the Cavs seemed to be giving Clark a more aggressive pitch than they gave LeBron James three years ago. While the 25-year-old expressed some interest in returning to Los Angeles, the Lakers had limited cap flexibility to offer Clark a new deal, since the club is already well into tax territory.
For the Cavs, a $4.5MM annual salary for Clark shouldn't put much of a dent in the team's summer cap space. Taking into account cap holds for Anthony Bennett and Sergey Karasev, Cleveland had about $33MM in guaranteed salary on its books prior to the agreement with Clark. Depending on whether the team intends to guarantee C.J. Miles' salary, or keep cap holds on the books for players such as Wayne Ellington and Marreese Speights, there still could be close to $20MM available in cap room.
Clark is represented by BDA Sports Management, as the Hoops Rumors agency database shows.