FA Rumors: Turner, Batum, Gasol, Lin, Kings
The Knicks, Bulls, Pelicans, Mavericks, Lakers, and Grizzlies are in the mix for Evan Turner, a source tells Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. No meetings have been finalized yet for Turner, but it sounds like he’ll meet with at least a few of those suitors. According to Deveney, there’s also still a possibility that the Celtics will re-enter the picture for Turner.
Here are more free agent updates from around the NBA:
- Unsurprisingly, Nicolas Batum, who has generated interest from Dallas, New York, Charlotte, and a few other teams, is seeking a max contract, tweets Deveney.
- According to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com, Trail Blazers and the Timberwolves are expected to be among the suitors for Pau Gasol, who has also been linked to Golden State, New York, and San Antonio.
- Jeremy Lin‘s price tag is expected to be in the neighborhood of $12-14MM per year, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter).
- The Kings have expressed interest in Dion Waiters and Allen Crabbe, per Wojnarowski (link via RealGM.com). Sacramento has also reached out to Courtney Lee, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com.
- Jazz free agent Trevor Booker is drawing interest from multiple teams and is expected to have a starting salary around $10MM, sources tell Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
Mavs Interested In Maurice Harkless
- The Pistons, Wizards, Bulls, Lakers and Mavericks are among the teams interested in Trail Blazers restricted free agent Maurice Harkless, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders reports (via Twitter).The 23-year-old appeared in 78 games this season and averaged 6.4 points, 3.6 rebounds and 0.9 assists in 18.7 minutes per contest.
Mavs, Heat, Blazers Vying For Hassan Whiteside
7:43pm: The Mavericks are emerging as the frontrunners for Whiteside, Wojnarowski tweets.
2:06pm: The Trail Blazers also remain in the mix for Whiteside, having scheduled a meeting with him that will take place within the next 24 hours, according to Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Jackson reports that Whiteside hasn’t set up any sit-downs with suitors outside of Miami, Dallas, and Portland.
One source who spoke to the Heat tells Jackson that there’s growing sentiment within the organization to offer Whiteside a max contract, though the team hasn’t made a final decision on that yet.
1:56pm: With midnight fast approaching, Hassan Whiteside‘s focus is centered on the Mavericks and the Heat, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (via Twitter), who adds that a decision could come quickly once the calendar turns to July. While Wojnarowski doesn’t explicitly say that Whiteside has narrowed his choice to Dallas or Miami, it sounds like those two clubs are the current frontrunners.
We’ve heard the Lakers, Celtics, Hornets, and Trail Blazers identified as other teams with interest in Whiteside, but the Mavericks are the team set to meet with him shortly after the recruiting period gets underway on July 1st. According to a report from Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, the Mavs will “absolutely” put a maximum-salary offer on the table for Whiteside, who is one of the club’s top two targets, along with Mike Conley.
The Heat have the cap room necessary to retain Whiteside, no matter what his asking price, but some reports have indicated that not all members of Miami’s front office are sold on the idea of a max deal for Whiteside. With free agency about to get underway, and the possibility of losing Whiteside looming over the franchise, I wonder if the Heat will bite the bullet and make a max offer.
Whichever team lands Whiteside will be getting a rim-protector and rebounder, who averaged 11.8 boards and a league-leading 3.7 blocks per game last season, in just 29.1 minutes per contest. Whiteside also contributed on the offensive end, scoring 14.2 points per game, with a .606 FG%.
Latest Free Agency News
With Chandler Parsons reportedly seeking a max contract and the Mavs unwilling to pony up that amount, there is virtually “no chance” that the forward will return to Dallas next season, Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com relays. Parsons has added meetings with the Lakers and the Grizzlies to his agenda, the scribe writes. A max contract for Parsons with the Mavs, who own his early Bird rights, would be worth $98.8MM over four years. Other teams can offer him a maximum of $94.8MM over the same span, MacMahon notes.
- Unrestricted free agent swingman Nicolas Batum has scheduled face-to-face meetings with the Hornets and Mavericks in Dallas and will talk to the Knicks, Lakers and Wizards via phone, MacMahon tweets.
- The Timberwolves are interested in signing Knicks unrestricted free agent forward Lance Thomas for a bench role, Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN relays (on Twitter). Minnesota will have some competition for Thomas’ services, with New York reportedly interested in re-signing the player and the Thunder, Nets and Mavericks all expected to make a play for the 28-year-old.
Trade Notes: Rubio, McRoberts, Butler, Pistons
The Timberwolves didn’t find the sort of return they hoped for when they shopped Ricky Rubio before and during the draft, but Tom Thibodeau is optimistic that Rubio’s value will increase this offseason, writes Sean Deveney of The Sporting News. As Deveney explains, Minnesota expects certain teams to become much more interested in Rubio once top free agent point guards like Mike Conley and Rajon Rondo come off the board, if those clubs are left without a viable starter at the position.
The Wolves haven’t ruled out the possibility of hanging onto Rubio and letting him and No. 5 overall pick Kris Dunn work together in 2016/17, but league sources tell Deveney that a handful of teams, including the Sixers, Rockets, and Bucks may have interest in the Spanish point guard. The Mavericks could also be a potential trade partner for Minnesota if Dallas doesn’t land Mike Conley, says Deveney.
Let’s check in on a few more trade rumors and notes from around the NBA…
- The Heat continue to explore moving Josh McRoberts, but they may need to attach a future draft pick in such a deal, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald. McRoberts’ $5.782MM salary isn’t exorbitant for a player with his skill-set, but he’s coming off two poor seasons, both of which were shortened by injury issues.
- During an appearance on ESPN’s The Jump on Wednesday, Jimmy Butler acknowledged that he knew heading into the offseason that the Bulls would likely trade either him or Derrick Rose, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com details. Butler also isn’t 100% sure he’s safe, even after he made it through the draft without being dealt. “I don’t think anything is for certain,” Butler said. “I really don’t. I love the city of Chicago, Chicago basketball, I think everybody knows that. They drafted me; I’ve been here my entire career. Nothing is for certain.”
- RealGM’s list of future traded draft picks has the details on the future second-rounder sent to the Pistons by the Magic in the Jodie Meeks trade. The criteria are some of the most convoluted I’ve seen on a traded pick, but the upshot is that Detroit will receive a 2019 second-round selection from either Cleveland, Houston, Portland, or Orlando.
Latest On Mike Conley
Mike Conley will have up to five outside suitors willing to offer him a maximum-salary contract when free agency opens late tonight, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who identifies the Mavericks, Rockets, Pelicans, Nets, and Lakers as the key challengers for the Grizzlies.
However, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), even though the veteran point guard is scheduled to meet with the Mavs on Friday, the Grizzlies remain in “very good position” in the Conley sweepstakes. Amick reports (via Twitter) that Dallas appears to pose the most significant threat to Memphis for Conley, but even that threat may prove to be “a nominal one.” The Rockets, meanwhile, aren’t expected to get a meeting with Conley at all, a source tells Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com.
If the Grizzlies do indeed remain comfortably in the driver’s seat, despite the fact that the Mavericks and other teams are willing to put max offers on the table for Conley, it may be an indication that Memphis is willing to add a fifth year to its offer. Since the Grizzlies hold Conley’s Bird Rights, they’re the only club with the ability to offer a five-year deal, and that fifth year would be worth well over $30MM in the point guard’s age-33 season.
There have also been reports suggesting that Conley wanted assurances from the Grizzlies that they would be aggressive in fortifying the roster around him, in order to remain a contender for the foreseeable future. If he ends up agreeing to re-sign with the team, he likely will have received such assurances.
Assuming Conley and the Grizzlies can work out a deal, the two sides likely won’t finalize anything right away. The team can make better use of its cap room by keeping Conley’s $14MM cap hold on the books, using all its cap space, then going over the cap to lock up Conley.
Mavs Expected To Meet With Nicolas Batum
- With a Chandler Parsons departure appearing increasingly likely, the Mavericks are expected to meet with Nicolas Batum once free agency begins, according to Tim MacMahon and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com. Dallas’ ideal outcome in free agency would be to land Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, which wouldn’t leave cap room for Batum. But the team is doing its homework and is prepared to quickly move on to Plan B if Conley and/or Whiteside decide not to sign with Dallas.
Latest On DeMar DeRozan
A report last weekend indicated that DeMar DeRozan doesn’t plan to take any meetings with teams besides the Raptors, and while that still may the case, there are other potential suitors looming. According to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com (via Twitter), Toronto will get DeRozan’s first meeting on July 1st in Los Angeles, and it’s possible that sit-downs with the Heat, Mavericks, Sixers, and Lakers could follow.
The wording of Haynes’ report, which suggests that there’s no guarantee those rival suitors actually get meetings, doesn’t contradict what we heard over the weekend. That initial report, from Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, indicated that DeRozan doesn’t intend to take meetings with other teams, and would only do so if talks don’t go smoothly with the Raptors.
In other words, it still looks like the Raptors will have the opportunity to wrap things up with DeRozan shortly after free agency gets underway. If the two sides don’t find common ground, the Heat, Mavs, Sixers, and Lakers could enter the picture.
DeRozan, who was due to make $10.35MM in the final year of his deal, opted out of his contract earlier this month and will be in line for a significant raise. The 26-year-old made his second All-Star game this season while averaging a career-high 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest. DeRozan even improved his long-distance shooting to a respectable 33.8% from beyond the arc, then averaged 20.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in the postseason as Toronto reached the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Cavaliers.
Mavs Meeting With Conley, Whiteside On July 1
The Mavericks have July 1st meetings lined up with their top two free agent targets, Mike Conley and Hassan Whiteside, according to reports. ESPN’s Chris Broussard writes that the Mavs will get a Friday meeting with Conley, while ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said in a radio interview that Dallas will be getting the first meeting with Whiteside (hat tip to HeatNation.com).
Within that same interview, MacMahon suggests that the Mavericks will “absolutely” put a maximum-salary offer on the table for Whiteside. The Heat have the space to make such an offer as well, but reports have indicated that not all members of Miami’s front office are sold on the idea of a max deal for Whiteside.
Meanwhile, the Grizzlies believe they will hold off all challengers for Conley and re-sign their starting point guard, according to Marc Stein of ESPN (Twitter link). However, Broussard writes that it’s not a foregone conclusion that Conley will return to Memphis. If the Grizzlies are reluctant to go beyond four years in their offer, it could open the door for rival suitors, per Broussard.
In addition to the Mavericks, the teams expected to pursue Conley include the Rockets, Pelicans, Nets, and Lakers, but those teams have yet to formally set up meetings, sources tell Broussard. Assuming Conley does meet with some or all of those clubs, he will likely meet with the Grizzlies last, giving them the opportunity to make the final pitch before he makes his decision.
As the Mavericks pursue Memphis’ starting point guard, the Grizzlies have their eye on a pending free agent from Dallas, according to Stein, who tweets that Memphis may try to sign Chandler Parsons. Parsons is reportedly seeking a max contract as well, so the Grizzlies would have to accommodate huge deals for both Conley and Parsons if they intend to sign both players, but it seems to be an option they’re considering.
Dwyane Wade Open To Exploring Free Agent Market
8:17pm: Wade is trying to create bargaining leverage with Miami by putting out feelers to other teams, a league source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link).
WEDNESDAY, 5:48pm: Wade’s representatives have reached out to the Spurs and the Mavericks to inform them that the shooting guard would potentially be interested in joining them were he to leave Miami, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (audio link) relayed during an appearance on 790 AM today.
TUESDAY, 8:21pm: In what appears to be a repeat of last summer’s contract talks, the Heat and Dwyane Wade‘s initial discussions have failed to find a common ground thus far, and as a result, the guard is open to listening to offers from other teams, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays. The franchise and Wade had several contentious weeks of contract discussions last year before they agreed on a one-year, $20MM deal for the 2015/16 campaign, the scribe adds. It’s unclear how far apart the two parties currently are on a new contract.
According to Windhorst’s sources, Wade’s representatives have made it known to multiple teams over the last several days that he will be testing the open market. However, some teams are skeptical about Wade being willing to leave Miami after 13 seasons and perhaps see his agent’s machinations as merely a bargaining tactic with the Heat, Windhorst notes.
“I hope that everything is quiet and works out the way I want it to,” Wade said after the season came to a close. “But I have no control over that, as much as people might think. It’s a lot of moving parts in free agency. I’m not worried about it.”
Wade, 34, is coming off a solid campaign that saw him remain virtually healthy for the majority of the season. He appeared in 74 games and averaged 19.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 30.5 minutes per outing while shooting .456/.159/.793 from the field.