Central Notes: Love, Bucks, Morris
New Pistons forward Marcus Morris wasn’t initially thrilled with the Suns for dealing him to Detroit, Perry A. Farrell of The Detroit Free Press writes. “I wouldn’t say stunning, but in Phoenix, I would say I didn’t have a great opportunity,” Morris said today. “I kind of wanted to play with my brother [twin Markieff Morris] so much that I kind of took away from myself. I didn’t think I had an opportunity to get better. I don’t think I had the chance to grow as a player over there. I think the opportunity is here for me. Everybody knew how bad I wanted to play with my brother. Phoenix knew. For them to trade me without consent or telling me was like a slap in the face, because of the contract I took from those guys and the money I took from them. I’m happy to be here. I’m a Piston. I’m a Bad Boy. I’m ready to get started.”
Here’s the latest from the Central Division:
- The future second-rounder going to Indiana in the Roy Hibbert trade is the Lakers’ 2019 pick, tweets salary cap expert Larry Coon. The Pacers also net a trade exception equivalent to Hibbert’s salary of more than $15.5MM, Coon points out, but that will vanish when Indiana’s deal with Monta Ellis becomes official, unless the Pacers can somehow turn the Ellis transaction into a sign-and-trade.
- The second-round pick heading from the Mavs to the Bucks in the Zaza Pachulia trade is Dallas’ 2018 selection, and it’s top-55 protected, according to RealGM. The same level of protection is on the 2020 second-rounder Milwaukee gets from the Wizards in the Jared Dudley deal, as RealGM also reveals. Both swaps produced trade exceptions, notes Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). The Bucks get one worth $5.2MM from Pachulia and another for $4.25MM from Dudley.
- The salaries in Khris Middleton‘s five-year, $70MM deal with the Bucks fluctuate up and down from year to year, but the starting salary is $14.7MM, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders tweets.
- Kevin Love indicated that he and LeBron James had what Love termed, “an honest talk,” prior to Love deciding to re-sign with the Cavaliers, Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes. “He happened to be in Los Angeles the same time I was,” Love said of James. “So, we just talked everything out and a lot of stuff was very honest and we came to a really good place and we agreed on a lot of things, so I think that was also a very big deal when you’re talking to the best player in the world.“
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Heat Sign Amar’e Stoudemire
FRIDAY, 4:41pm: The Heat have officially signed Stoudemire, the team announced. It will be a one-year deal worth $1.5MM, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today tweets. “We are very fortunate that a proven All-Star like Amar’e has chosen the Miami Heat,” said team president Pat Riley. “He is going to bring gravitas, leadership and a hardworking mentality to our team as we look to win another Championship in Miami.”
THURSDAY, 10:53pm: The Heat are believed to be close to a deal with Amar’e Stoudemire, reports Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com, who cites sources (Twitter link). Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirmed through an associate of Stoudemire’s that it is indeed the case and that the 13-year veteran would like to play for the Heat, though that associate cautioned that a deal is not yet a given. The Happy Walters client won’t base his decision on money, Jackson hears, a plus for the Heat, who are limited to only their $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception and are poised to pay repeat-offender tax penalties this season unless they clear some of their salary commitments.
Stoudemire will meet with the Heat on Friday, as Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reported (on Twitter), and team president Pat Riley will take part, Jackson notes. Several other teams have apparently been in the mix for the big man, as the Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks, Lakers and Suns all reportedly expressed interest in him as someone who could shore up their respective benches.
Stoudemire didn’t want to go to the Clippers unless he could start, as Chris Broussard of ESPN.com reported, and it seems unlikely he’d start over Chris Bosh or Hassan Whiteside in Miami. Still, Stoudemire apparently had at least some level of mutual interest in the Clippers, as well as the Mavs, Lakers, Suns and Spurs. He was expected to speak with Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers this past weekend, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, who added the Pacers to the list of teams that Stoudemire was eyeing.
Western Notes: Aldridge, Chandler, Booker
Blazers executive Neil Olshey said the team found out LaMarcus Aldridge was signing with the Spurs after his second meeting with San Antonio on July 3rd, Mike Tokito of The Oregonian writes. Olshey also took offense to the suggestion that he and the Blazers were trying to hide Aldridge’s pending departure from fans and the media, calling it “patently false,” Tokito adds. “More than anything, what was the upside to lying? What? What did we buy? Five days of peace? I can guarantee you there was no peace,” Olshey said. “What was our motivation to lie for 96 hours? It wasn’t like there was some big season ticket holder push during that 96 hours. There wasn’t some sponsorship that was up, it wasn’t that we were recruiting some other free agents that were only going to come if LaMarcus was going to be here.”
Here’s more out of the Western Conference:
- Olshey also fielded questions regarding whether or not the team considered trading Aldridge last season, Tokito tweets. The GM relayed that it would have been extremely difficult to trade Aldridge in final year of his contract, and that teams wouldn’t be willing to deal for the forward without knowing if he’d re-sign with them, Tokito adds.
- The Mavericks have expressed interest in former Wizards big man Kevin Seraphin, Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops reports (Twitter link).
- The Suns are thrilled with their signing of center Tyson Chandler to a free agent deal, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. “The first thing I think of when I think of Tyson Chandler is a winner and winning,” GM Ryan McDonough said. “His teams in New York won a lot. His teams in Dallas won a lot, including a championship. The World Championship [with USA Basketball] in Istanbul when I was there five years ago won the gold. He’s always won everywhere he’s gone.”
- The Blazers have promoted Jim Moran to assistant coach to replace the recently fired Kim Hughes, Joe Freeman of The Oregonian tweets.
- The Jazz are likely to keep Trevor Booker on the roster for next season, Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune relays (on Twitter). Only $250k of the $4,775,000 Booker is set to earn in 2015/16 is guaranteed.
Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Hackett, Nets
The Celtics‘ primary goal this season will be to make he franchise as attractive as possible to free agents hitting the market during next Summer, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. With the team expected to have approximately $40MM to spend on free agents in 2016, the team has to develop its young core enough to convince big names like Kevin Durant that they can win in Beantown, Blakely adds.
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Euro guard Daniel Hackett will work out for the Knicks in Las Vegas, David Pick of Eurobasket relays (Twitter links). Hackett, who is also on the radar of the Mavs and Rockets, was offered a contract by the Greek club Olympiacos, but the 27-year-old wants to explore his NBA opportunities before heading back overseas, Pick adds.
- Nets GM Billy King‘s first two calls when the free agent signing period began were to Shane Larkin and Thomas Robinson, Rod Boone of Newsday tweets. Both players officially signed with Brooklyn today.
- When King was asked if he expected Deron Williams and Joe Johnson to remain on the Nets‘ roster, he responded, “at this point, yes,” Boone tweets. King also indicated that the reports of the team trying to deal Johnson have been exaggerated, Boone adds.
- The Knicks are still in contact with the representatives for Alexey Shved, Cole Aldrich and Louis Amundson, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com tweets.
- The Nets will still look to add another big man to the roster, King indicated, but the team wants to get as close to, if not under, the luxury tax line as it can, Mike Mazzeo of ESPN.com relays (via Twitter).
Heat Sign Gerald Green
8:56pm: The signing is official, the Heat announced. “We are fortunate to be able sign a proven veteran like Gerald,” said team president Pat Riley. “He is a dynamic talent who possesses great athleticism, and has the ability to shoot from distance and spread the floor. He’ll be a perfect complement to our team.”
8:28am: It’ll be a minimum-salary contract, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The Mavericks had been interested before their deal with DeAndre Jordan fell apart, Berger adds.
8:02am: The Heat will sign Gerald Green to a one-year deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). Miami has its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level exception at its disposal if Green is getting more than the minimum.
Green departs from the Suns, which is no shock after agent Kevin Bradbury took coach Jeff Hornacek to task this past spring in response to Hornacek’s criticism of Green’s defense. The swingman nonetheless seemed open to a return. The Clippers had interest and expressed that to Green’s camp, but with DeAndre Jordan coming back and Paul Pierce in the fold, L.A. has only the minimum to spend. Green seemed likely to pursue a deal approaching $5MM a year, though he’s unable to get quite that much from the Heat.
The Heat will still meet today with Marcus Thornton, who also ended last season with the Suns, in spite of their agreement with Green, reports Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (Twitter link). Still, it’s tough to see Miami signing both, Jackson tweets, particularly since the Heat are already short on roster space, as Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post notes (on Twitter).
Mavs Acquire Zaza Pachulia From Bucks
8:02pm: The trade is official, the Mavericks and Bucks announced via press release. A future second-rounder is on the way to the Bucks in the transaction.
7:55pm: The Bucks would receive a second round pick in return from Dallas, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
7:53pm: The Mavericks and Bucks are engaged in discussions regarding Dallas acquiring Zaza Pachulia, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). It’s unclear what Milwaukee is seeking in return for the 31-year-old center, be it draft picks or players. Pachulia is set to earn $5.2MM next season, the final year of his current deal.
Dallas is badly in need of help at center after being spurned by unrestricted free agent DeAndre Jordan, who reversed course on Dallas after reaching a verbal agreement on a contract and returned to the Clippers. Pachulia would certainly be a step down talent-wise from Jordan or last year’s starter, Tyson Chandler, but the Mavericks are stuck having to sift through the remaining available players in the wake of the flurry of signings that became official today.
Pachulia appeared in 73 games for the Bucks last season, including 45 as a starter, and averaged 8.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 23.7 minutes per contest. His slash line was .454./.000/.788. Through 12 NBA campaigns the big man’s numbers are 7.0 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 1.2 APG.
Celtics Sign Amir Johnson
JULY 9TH, 7:58pm: The signing is official, the Celtics announced. Since it’s not a sign-and-trade, and the amount is too large to fit within the mid-level exception, that means Boston is using cap space and has lost its long list of trade exceptions, including one worth $12,909,090 left over from the Rajon Rondo trade.
3:47pm: The second year is non-guaranteed, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (Twitter link).
JULY 1ST, 2:36pm: The Celtics and Amir Johnson have agreed to a deal, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). It’ll be worth $24MM over two years, a fairly significant outlay. The incumbent Raptors, as well as the Knicks, Celtics, Mavericks, Pacers, Lakers and Spurs also expressed interest in the Kevin Bradbury client, as Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com reported earlier (on Twitter).
Chris Mannix of SI.com reported Tuesday that Boston was expected to show interest. Johnson said in 2013 that he wanted to play for Toronto the rest of his career, but declining numbers this past season seemed to make that proposition less likely.
Reactions To DeAndre Jordan Signing
DeAndre Jordan officially re-signed with the Clippers today after changing his mind regarding the verbal contract agreement he had made with the Mavericks. Jordan’s deal is for four years, $87.6MM, with a player option after the third season, and includes a 15% trade kicker. Wednesday night was a surreal event as Clippers officials camped out at Jordan’s Houston area home until the July moratorium officially came to an end at midnight Eastern time, and Jordan could officially sign the agreement. Here are some of the reactions around the league regarding this unusual event:
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban took exception to a report made by ESPN’s Chris Broussard which stated that Cuban was desperately contacting Jordan’s relatives in a last-ditch effort to sway the big man toward Dallas on Wednesday evening. Cuban posted a message via CyberDust (h/t Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com) saying that he hadn’t spoken with Jordan since Tuesday night, and that the owner even offered to let unrestricted free agent Wesley Matthews out of his own verbal agreement with Dallas.
- Broussard stood by his report (via Twitter), relaying that multiple sources had informed him that Cuban was attempting to contact Jordan on Wednesday night, and if Cuban was able to obtain Jordan’s address, he would have attempted to visit the center in an attempt to change Jordan’s mind yet again.
- The NBPA issued a statement regarding the moratorium as it relates to the Jordan situation (h/t Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe), which read, “The moratorium period exists for both players and teams to thoughtfully weigh and consider options before signing any contracts. And while we fully support the opportunity to review options, we also acknowledge there is a risk for both players and teams for the other party to change his mind during discussions. We all walk into these conversations understanding that as with any business contract, it’s not a deal until the paper is signed.“
- The Mavs will have no choice now but to rebuild, writes MacMahon in a separate piece. The snub by Jordan and the departure of Tyson Chandler to the Suns have left the organization with few options for next season at the pivot, MacMahon opines.
- Zach Lowe of Grantland proposes that the NBA ban all contract talks until the end of the moratorium on July 9th, so that when discussions officially commence, they can lead to enforceable, signed contracts right away.
- Mavericks former minority owner/GM Frank Zaccanelli said that Dallas may be thankful down the line that it missed out on Jordan, Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News relays. “They dodged a bullet,” Zaccanelli said of Jordan’s decision. “He’s a really good rebounder and a good defender. But he’s a liability on offense and there’s no way he’s going to be able to be your focus offensively. He can’t make fouls shots and he has no outside shot. Plus, Dallas is the hottest market in the world right now and somebody doesn’t want to be there, and he wasn’t going to be the centerpiece of the franchise anyway, then the Mavericks shouldn’t want him.”
Mavericks Sign Wesley Matthews
5:40pm: Matthews’ deal is now for the max, at four years and about $70MM, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets, since DeAndre Jordan pulled his about-face and signed with the Clippers.
JULY 9TH, 5:33pm: The signing is official, the Mavericks announced in a press release. “We just like him as a culture guy — his toughness and work ethic. He’s become a terrific player,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “He’s a different kind of guy than we’ve had here, but he can play both wing positions. He can post up, he’s a great three-point shooter, and he’s developed a post game to where he can both score and make plays out of the post. We think he’s going to bring a lot to our team.”
JULY 3RD, 7:23am: The deal will probably average about $13MM a year, but that’s flexible, pending Jordan’s decision, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. Presumably, a commitment from Aldridge would affect the final Matthews numbers as well, but that’s just my speculation.
JULY 2ND, 11:59pm: The Mavericks have an agreement in principle from free agent Wesley Matthews that he’ll play in Dallas next season, TNT’s David Aldridge reports (Twitter link). It will be a four-year arrangement, though the final amount has not been finalized, Aldridge adds. The Mavericks are waiting on word from free agents LaMarcus Aldridge and DeAndre Jordan before settling on a final amount with Matthews, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Matthews reportedly turned down a four year, $64MM offer from the Kings, who also coveted the swingman, as Aldridge notes (on Twitter). Dallas was reported to be extremely reluctant to meet Matthews’ asking price considering the frightening history of players who came back from torn Achilles tendons, noted Stein. The Mavs wanted to sign Matthews to a deal with salaries in the $10-12MM range annually, the ESPN scribe added. The Raptors were also reported to have interest in Matthews.
The shooting guard tore his left Achilles tendon on March 5th, 60 games into the season. Portland went 41-19 with the guard in the lineup and just 10-12 without him. Matthews’ 2014/15 numbers were 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 33.7 minutes per contest, with a slash line of .448/.389/.752. His career numbers through 441 games are 14.3 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 2.1 APG, with a shooting line of .443/.393/.825. Not too shabby numbers for a player who went undrafted out of Marqutte back in 2009.
Clippers Re-Sign DeAndre Jordan
2:31pm: The deal is official, the Clippers announced via press release.
THURSDAY, 9:14am: The Clippers haven’t sent out a press release or formal announcement, but they did acknowledge the move on Twitter with a photo of Jordan and the words “We’re officially centered.” Jordan put pen to paper with Relativity Sports agent Jarinn Akana present, but not Fegan, his primary agent, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The agency has yet to provide certification of the contract, Spears notes, so it can’t yet become official. Also present when Jordan signed the contract were Rivers, Paul, Griffin and Paul Pierce, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter links). The Mavericks never got to meet with him face-to-face, as was supposed to have been the case, Shelburne adds (on Twitter). The deal contains a 15% trade kicker, reports Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
11:21pm: Jordan’s deal is actually for four years, $87.6MM, with a player option after the third season, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register tweets (h/t to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders).
10:05pm: The deal is reportedly a five-year maximum salary contract in excess of $110MM, and includes a player option for the final season, Stein tweets.
9:47pm: In what turned out to be one of the more bizarre free agency dramas in recent memory, DeAndre Jordan has reversed course and has elected to re-sign with the Clippers, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times reports (Twitter link). The center had reached a verbal agreement with the Mavericks last week, but changed his mind after having time to mull over his decision. The exact length and amount of the contract are unknown, but it is almost assuredly a maximum salary arrangement. The signing cannot become official until after midnight Eastern time this evening. Mavs team owner Mark Cuban has begun to notify people within the Dallas organization that Jordan is remaining in Los Angeles, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
The unusual circumstances surrounding Jordan’s free agency convinced Clippers officials that they needed to remain at Jordan’s side until he is formally able to put pen to paper on a new contract, given that Jordan had already changed his mind once during the process, Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com note. Sources informed the ESPN duo that Jordan, in a meeting today at his Houston home with several teammates and top Clippers officials, indicated to the team that he intended to renege on last Friday’s commitment to sign a four-year, $80-plus million max deal with the Mavericks and return to Los Angeles instead.
There were conflicting reports regarding Jordan’s agent, Dan Fegan, that he steered the center toward the Mavs because of the close relationship Fegan has with Cuban. One of Jordan’s reasons for wanting to leave Los Angeles was his desire to have an expanded offensive role. Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers reportedly informed Jordan that he wasn’t aware of the veteran’s desire for a larger role, and the Clippers offered to hire a big man coach and increase Jordan’s number of touches on the offensive end. Jordan was apparently tired of playing third wheel behind Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. The center also reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Paul, though there were conflicting reports on just how much of a factor that was in Jordan’s initial willingness to leave Los Angeles.
Jordan made 82 appearances for the Clippers last season, averaging 11.5 points, 15.0 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks in 34.4 minutes per game, with a slash line of .710/.250/.397. The big man’s numbers through seven NBA seasons are 8.0 PPG, 9.0 RPG, and 1.7 BPG, with a shooting line of .664/.125/.417.