Cavs Eyeing Clark, Collison, Watson
TUESDAY, 6:48pm: The interest between Clark and the Cavs is "very mutual", one source told Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. Clark has connections to the Cavaliers as Mike Brown coached him briefly with the Lakers last year and newly hired assistant coach Igor Kokoskov was in Phoenix for Clark’s first year-and-change.
MONDAY, 12:24am: C.J. Watson is another point guard on the Cavs' radar, according to Amico (via Twitter).
12:17am: With free agency underway, the Lakers have contacted unrestricted free agent Earl Clark about returning to the team, tweets Sean Deveney of the Sporting News. However, Clark is also set to meet with the Cavaliers on Tuesday, according to Deveney.
The Cavs' interest in Clark has been previously reported by Deveney and confirmed by other outlets, and Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld tweets that the team's interest is "real," adding that Cleveland has liked Clark for "quite a while."
In addition to Clark, the Cavs are also said to be eyeing point guard Darren Collison, according to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter). Collison didn't receive a qualifying offer from the Mavericks, so he's now an unrestricted free agent, free to sign outright with any team.
FA Updates: Brown, Oden, Iguodala, Pistons
We passed along a few free agent updates this morning, but while that may have been our first round-up of free agency notes for the day, it certainly won't be the last. Here's another set:
- Euroleague standout Bobby Brown is drawing plenty of interest from teams on both sides of the Atlantic, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter). Stein names the Knicks, Clippers, and Trail Blazers as potential NBA suitors for Brown, while noting that he also has "multiple big offers" to continue playing overseas.
- One source tells Stein (Twitter link) that the Spurs and Heat are likely in the lead ahead of the Cavs and other teams for Greg Oden, though that list could continue to evolve, given the complexities of his comeback.
- The Warriors, who had previously been named as a potential suitor for Andre Iguodala despite a lack of cap flexibility, met with the free agent swingman yesterday, says Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- The Pistons are talking to agent Mark Bartelstein about bringing back free agent point guard Will Bynum, tweets Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The team has also talked to Bartelstein about Jose Calderon, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
- Although talks aren't serious at this point, the Timberwolves have exchanged text messages with Andrei Kirilenko's camp, a source tells Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (Twitter link).
FA Updates: Jennings, Oden, Calderon, Knicks
The second day of 2013 free agency is underway, and we can probably expect to see a few more agreements reached today. In the meantime, here are a few news items and rumors on some notable free agents:
- Brandon Jennings' representatives at Excel Sports gave the Bucks an undisclosed amount on Monday that Jennings would be willing to accept to re-sign with the team, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. According to Spears, Milwaukee would prefer to sign Jennings outright rather than having to decide whether to match an offer sheet, but it's not clear whether the team is on board with the figure Jennings has in mind.
- Free agent big man Greg Oden will likely choose between the Spurs, Heat, Cavs, Celtics, and Grizzlies, a source close to the player told ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman. Yesterday, we heard that those five clubs were interested in the former No. 1 overall pick as well as the Pacers, Kings, and Mavericks.
- Jose Calderon is meeting with the Kings in Sacramento today, agent Mark Bartelstein tells Jorge Sierra of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
- The Bucks, Blazers, Spurs, and Hawks are pursuing Zaza Pachulia, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.
- Nate Robinson and Matt Barnes have notified the Knicks that they're interested in signing with the club, and are waiting to see "where the Knicks are," a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
- Flip Saunders and the Timberwolves have inquired on Nick Young, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter).
Odds & Ends: Kings, Lee, Martin, Cavs, Bulls
Tyreke Evans is being courted by the Pelicans and Andre Iguodala is reportedly drawing interest from several teams, but the Kings are expected to make a pitch to both players today. Bryan May of News10 in Sacramento reports (via Twitter) that Sacramento brass is scheduled to meet with Evans and Iguodala in Los Angeles today.
Here are a few more Monday odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Evans is also expected to meet with the Pistons today, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News follows up on Adrian Wojnarowski's report of the Warriors gauging trade interest in David Lee by exploring the possibility of a deal and noting that the Warriors were "quickly rebuffed" when they offered Lee to the Lakers last year in a proposal for Pau Gasol.
- Expect the Grizzlies to become more interested in Kevin Martin if they're unable to bring back Tony Allen, tweets TNT's David Aldridge.
- The Cavaliers came close to acquiring a second top-10 pick in last week's draft, with an eye on adding Alex Len or Ben McLemore, says Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- Thunder fans shouldn't worry that his new partnership with Jay-Z and Roc Nation Sports means he'll be leaving Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant tells Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman.
- 2011 second-round pick Bojan Bogdanovic continues to have interest in coming stateside to play for the Nets, but if Brooklyn uses its mini mid-level exception on a player like Kyle Korver, it's unlikely that Bogdanovic comes over this season, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News writes.
- Bulls GM Gar Forman has reached out to free agents Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, and Nazr Mohammed, but sounds much more confident about retaining Mohammed than the other two. Doug Padilla of ESPNChicago.com has the details.
Big Man Rumors: Bynum, Wright, Oden, Mullens
Earlier this afternoon, we passed along a few notes and rumors related to point guards. Now let's go a little bigger, with a focus on free agent centers….
- The Mavericks were one of several teams to contact Andrew Bynum shortly after free agency began last night, agent David Lee tells Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com. The Mavs, like all the teams chasing after Dwight Howard, are also in the market for Bynum as a fallback option, and the Trail Blazers and Cavaliers are reportedly pursuing the oft-injured center as well.
- Dallas would like to retain Brandan Wright, but the Hawks, Magic, Pistons, Raptors, and Knicks all expressed interest in the Jim Tanner client after free agency began last night, McMahon reports. Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link) also adds the Lakers to the list of potential suitors for Wright.
- The Heat, Spurs, Cavs, Celtics, Mavericks, Kings, Pacers, and Grizzlies all have interest in Greg Oden, but the former No. 1 overall pick is in no rush to make his decision on where to sign, writes Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. He's hoping to be physically ready to play by training camp.
- According to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter), it's unlikely that Oden lands with the Cavs.
- The Lakers have inquired on Byron Mullens, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPNLosAngeles.com. Mullens became an unrestricted free agent when the Bobcats didn't tender him a qualifying offer.
- The Heat are in contact with Chris Andersen's camp in the hopes of working out a deal, tweets Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida.
Several Teams In On Andrew Bynum
There will be no shortage of interest in free agent center Andrew Bynum when the clock strikes midnight tonight, sources tell Yannis Koutroupis of HoopsWorld. One source specifically mentioned the Trail Blazers and Cavaliers as two teams expected to reach out to Bynum along with all of the franchises with cap space that are pursuing center Dwight Howard.
Howard will meet with the Hawks, Mavericks, Lakers, Warriors and Rockets. Of those five, the Hawks, Mavs, and Rockets have the necessary space under the cap to make a max, or near max, offer without needing to do a sign-and-trade.
Bynum, of course, missed all of last season with the Sixers due to serious knee problems. However, his people have been on the record saying that he'll be ready for the start of training camp. Despite his issues, Bynum will be the most talented center on the market once Howard signs.
Cavs Will Not Extend Wayne Ellington QO
The Cavs have elected to set free guard Wayne Ellington, reports Jason Lloyd of Akron-Beacon Journal. Ellington could have been given a qualifying offer of around $3.8MM, and he would have been a restricted free agent this summer, with the team able to match any offer for Ellington's services.
But Lloyd cautions that the Cavs would like Ellington to remain with the team, despite his status now as an unrestricted free agent. The Cleveland-Plain Dealer's Mary Schmitt Boyer expressed surprise (twitter) at the decision not to extend Ellington a QO, but the Cavs remain high on him moving forward while viewing the decision as a strategic move to free up cap space, Lloyd notes.
The Cavs weren't expected to extend a qualifying offer to Omri Casspi either, and they haven't notes Boyer (Twitter). They Cavs are also unlikely to bring back Luke Walton.
Marreese Speights Opts Out
Marreese Speights has declined his $4,515,000 player option for next season with the Cavs and will become a free agent, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Cleveland acquired Speights as part of a three-for-one deal with the Grizzlies in January. The Cavs have no intention of re-signing him, according to Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link).
An April report indicated that the Cavs felt Speights did not fit their culture, and that they were hoping he would opt out, so it sounds like they got their wish. The 25-year-old big man averaged 10.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in his 39-game stint with Cleveland, numbers that would have been career highs if stretched over a full season. Still, with No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett joining a crowded frontcourt that also includes Tristan Thompson, Anderson Varejao and Tyler Zeller, there may not have been many minutes left over for Speights.
The move will leave the Cavs with $27.5MM in guaranteed salary for next season, so Cleveland would have wound up with plenty of cap room regardless of Speights decision.
Odds & Ends: Brown, Granger, Brooks, Cavs
It's been a relatively quiet post-draft night around the NBA, but such inactivity won't last long. Teams can negotiate with free agents from other clubs starting Monday, and we'll likely find out the destinations for most of the top available talent in the week ahead. Here's what we know now:
- Spurs assistant Brett Brown is a candidate for both of the league's remaining head coaching vacancies, but while the Sixers have strong interest in hiring him, Brown is "extremely" interested in the Celtics job, a source tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe.
- Before Larry Bird returned this week as Pacers president of basketball ops, the team appeared to favor keeping Danny Granger rather than trading him this summer. Bird is on board with that plan, notes Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.
- The Nets tried to trade MarShon Brooks during the draft for a second-round pick, but when they found no one willing to do such a deal, they substituted him for Reggie Evans in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- The Cavaliers are looking for a center, small forward and backup point guard, and they're willing to swing a trade to fill those needs, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
- The Rockets timed renovations to their home arena to coincide with free agency, so potential players could see the franchise's upgrades in action, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle details.
- Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News speculates on potential trade targets for the Pistons, who've had Wilson Chandler of the Nuggets "on their radar" for a while, Goodwill writes.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside identifies five players left undrafted Thursday whose chances of making the NBA could benefit from a D-League stint.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer figures the kind of deal Brandon Jennings gets in restricted free agency this year could set the bar for Kemba Walker, whose rookie-scale contract with the Bobcats is up in 2015 (Twitter link).
Odds & Ends: 2014 Draft, CP3, Mavs, Warriors
About 12 hours after the 2013 NBA draft officially came to an end, ESPN.com's Chad Ford was already looking forward to 2014. Ford's latest Insider-only blog at ESPN.com takes a very early look at the '14 draft class, which several scouts and GMs believe could be one of the strongest ever. While Andrew Wiggins in the consensus top prospect for '14, the rest of Ford's top 100 is considered well above average as well, with Julius Randle, Marcus Smart, Jabari Parker, and Andrew Harrison rounding out the top five.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the NBA:
- Speaking of next year's draft, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reports that the NBA is considering moving the event back at least a week next year, since the current setup doesn't leave much time between the Finals and draft night. However, the league doesn't want to postpone free agency and Summer League play significantly, so it's unclear whether or not the timing will work. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing the draft happen a few weeks after the free agency period begins, but it doesn't sound like that's an option.
- Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show today, Doc Rivers said he talks to Chris Paul every day and that he believes CP3 wants to remain a Clipper (Twitter link via Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com).
- Dirk Nowitzki addressed reporters, including Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, on draft night and revealed that he has talked to Dwight Howard about the possibility of D12 signing with the Mavericks. "I reached out to him and told him we'd love to have him," Nowitzki said. "That's really about it. It's not like we call each other every day."
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News has an excellent in-depth look into what happened in the Warriors' draft room last night, detailing how happy the team was with the end result of its series of trades.
- Mike Brown's staff with the Cavaliers will include the following assistants, according to Bob Finnan of the News-Herald (via Twitter): Jim Boylan, Bernie Bickerstaff, Igor Kokoskov, Jamahl Mosley, Phil Handy, Vitaly Potapenko, and Bret Brielmaier.