Denver Nuggets Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Wojnarowski On Copeland, Allen, Oladipo

July 1st, 2013 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Adrian Wojnarowski has passed along a few nuggets this afternoon on free agents and the teams chasing them, so let's check out what the Yahoo! Sports scribe has for us….

The Pacers and Chris Copeland have a "strong mutual interest," according to Wojnarowski, who says Indiana is emerging as a potential destination for the restricted free agent.
If the Grizzlies are unable to re-sign Tony Allen, the Nuggets may become a real threat to land the defensive specialist, tweets Wojnarowski. The Trail Blazers, Pacers, Bucks, and Knicks have also been identified as possible suitors for Allen, while Ken Berger of CBSSports.com throws the Mavericks into the mix as well (Twitter link).
In a non-free-agent tweet, Wojnarowski suggests No. 2 overall pick Victor Oladipo will get "major run" at point guard in Summer League play for the Magic.

Kyler’s Latest: Iguodala, Dwight, Lee, Martin

July 1st, 2013 at 12:07pm CST by Chuck Myron

HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler has a few free agent rumors in his NBA AM, so let's dive right in:

The Nuggets are one of many teams pursuing Andre Iguodala, and they plan to offer him a deal close to the $14,968,250 he made last season in Denver.
Dwight Howard's camp notes that most marquee free agents sign deals with some kind of player or early termination option, as Chris Paul is doing with the Clippers. Thus, the advantage the Lakers have of granting him a fifth year in a deal is virtually moot, save for the protection it would give Howard against a career-altering injury.
Sources close to the Warriors are downplaying the team's reported interest in trading David Lee, though if Golden State wants to re-sign both Jarrett Jack and Carl Landry, they'll have to clear some money off their cap, Kyler writes.
Kyler adds the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies to the list of teams pursuing Kevin Martin.
Marcus Camby appears upset with his inclusion in the Andrea Bargnani trade, and Kyler hears the Raptors would be open to a buyout if they can't find someone willing to take on Camby in another trade.

Pistons Preparing Substantial Offer For Josh Smith

July 1st, 2013 at 1:12am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier on Sunday, we heard that the Pistons were one of a few teams expected to target Josh Smith in free agency this week. However, while some of those other suitors may view Smith as a Plan B if their pursuit of Dwight Howard or another top-tier free agent is unsuccessful, the Pistons appear to be prioritizing Smith.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, GM Joe Dumars and the Pistons plan to make Smith a "substantial four-year offer" when they meet with him today. Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News reported earlier tonight Detroit "absolutely" won't make Smith a maximum-salary offer, but the team still has plenty of room to offer a lucrative deal.

When I explored Smith's potential maximum salary back in March, I estimated that rival teams may be able to offer him something close to $74MM for four years. That figure isn't official, and if Detroit doesn't intend to offer the max, the team will probably come in several million dollars below that figure anyway. Something like four years and $60MM may not be out of the question though.

The Pistons also plan to meet with Andre Iguodala, but it's doubtful they'll be willing to outbid the Nuggets for him, says Wojnarowski.

Knicks, Others Express Interest In Monta Ellis

July 1st, 2013 at 1:04am CST by Luke Adams

Monta Ellis is drawing plenty of interest from contending teams early in free agency, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, who reports that the Knicks are among the clubs to express interest in the veteran guard. The Bulls, Spurs, Nuggets and Suns have also inquired on Ellis, says Berger.

Many of those teams would seem to be long shots for Ellis. The Knicks, for instance, likely won't be able to acquire players via sign-and-trade since they're over the tax line, so they'll only have the mini mid-level exception ($3.18MM) available. Considering he just turned down an option worth $11MM, Ellis seems unlikely to sign with a team that can't even offer him that amount over three years.

Still, Ellis and agent Jeff Fried are "known to be willing to compromise in order to sign with a contending team," according to Berger, so it's probably too early to rule out any suitors, as unlikely as they may appear.

Western Notes: Rockets, Iguodala, Clippers

June 30th, 2013 at 12:08pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Rockets have been expected to waive Carlos Delfino and Aaron Brooks before their salaries become fully guaranteed at the end of today, but Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears the team is still pursuing 11th-hour trade possibilities for the two, despite the slim chance they'll find a deal (Twitter links). That's just one of many news items out of the West with free agency less than 12 hours away:

With a host of teams vying for Andre Iguodala, Nuggets GM Tim Connelly and coach Brian Shaw will meet with Iguodala on Monday in Los Angeles, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
Doc Rivers is downplaying talk of a trade involving Eric Bledsoe or anyone else, as Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times notes. The Clippers have interest in retaining Lamar Odom and Matt Barnes, Turner reports, adding that the Lakers are also high on Barnes.
Though the Clippers reportedly prefer Andrea Bargnani to DeMar DeRozan, Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun notes that Rivers has always held DeRozan in high regard (Twitter link).
O.J. Mayo is expected to turn down his $4.2MM player option for next season, and while his preference is to return to Dallas, the Mavs won't receive a discount, tweets Tim McMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
Carl Landry's first priority will be to re-sign with the Warriors, but he believes there will be about half a dozen teams pursuing him, and he expects the Blazers to be one of them, the power forward tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Landry reciprocates Portland's interest.
The Suns won't be in the market for big-ticket free agents, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic. The team prefers to keep its cap flexibility to accomodate an enticing trade possibility or next year's crop of free agents. The Suns will be in contact with Wesley Johnson, one of their own free agents, Coro says.
New Kings GM Pete D'Alessandro is promising an "aggressive" approach to the offseason, as Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee observes. The Kings won't simply let restricted free agent Tyreke Evans go without matching his offer or working out a sign-and-trade, writes Voisin, who pegs his market value at between $8MM and $10MM per year.
Yesterday was the deadline for the Spurs to waive Matt Bonner before his $3.945MM salary for next season, which had been partially guaranteed for $1MM, became fully guaranteed. So, Bonner will be back, unless the team waives him via amnesty, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News points out as he examines the Spurs' offseason.

Pelicans Have Strong Interest In Andre Iguodala

June 30th, 2013 at 10:44am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pelicans have strong interest in free agent swingman Andre Iguodala, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Nuggets, Hawks, Pistons, Kings, Mavs, Warriors and Rockets are all in the mix as well, according to USA Today's Sam Amick (Twitter link). When Iguodala opted out of his contract with Denver this month, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports identified many of those teams, along with the Cavs, as likely to have interest in the Rob Pelinka client.

The Pelicans appear to be one of the most aggressive teams this offseason, already having pulled off a trade at the draft for Jrue Holiday, Iguodala's former teammate in Philadelphia. New Orleans is also said to be making Eric Gordon "very available" in trade talks. The Pelicans will have plenty of cap space available if they wish to make Iguodala a maximum-salary offer, but I'm not sure they'd need to go that far. The max for the nine-year veteran would entail a starting salary worth 30% of the salary cap, or around $19.5MM. He would have made $16.155MM had he opted in with Denver.

Among the other teams pursuing Iguodala, the Rockets and Mavs will focus first on higher priorities like Dwight Howard, as Amick tweets, also noting that the Warriors interest in Iguodala is likely only cursory, given their lack of cap space and proximity to the luxury tax line. The Warriors are pursuing Howard, too, but that, too, appears a longshot.

Odds & Ends: Brown, Granger, Brooks, Cavs

June 29th, 2013 at 12:02am CST by Chuck Myron

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).

Minor Moves: Nuggets, Leslie, Pressey, Daniels

June 28th, 2013 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2013 draft in the books, there are still plenty of intriguing prospects that were not among the 60 players who heard their names called on Thursday night. Many of those guys will be snapped up quickly for Summer League rosters, while others could sign outright with an NBA team.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported a handful of signings late last night, and it's my understanding that these are actual free-agent contracts rather than just Summer League invites, though that's not entirely clear. Either way, the agreements will provide these undrafted free agents a chance to audition for a possible NBA roster spot. Here's a recap:

Kennedy has corrected his earlier report (linked below), tweeting that Harris is simply playing for the Nuggets in Summer League action, and not signing with the team yet. I imagine that may be the case for Howell and some of the other players listed below as well, though it seems as if Covington, at least, will ink an actual contract with the Rockets. We'll likely have to wait until July for official word.

Earlier updates:

Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld reports (via Twitter) that undrafted free agents Richard Howell and C.J. Harris will sign with the Nuggets. Again, players don't necessarily have to be under contract with a team to play for a Summer League squad, so Kennedy's wording suggests that Howell and Harris will ink deals to earn a pair of Denver's 20 summer roster spots, though that's not 100% certain.
Former N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie has reached an agreement on a deal with the Knicks, reports Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Leslie had been ranked the 40th-best prospect available by Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com and 41st by ESPN.com's Chad Ford.
Phil Pressey, a 5'11" point guard out of Missouri, has reached an agreement on a deal with the Celtics, tweets Wojnarowski. Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported last night that Boston figured to "immediately go after" Pressey once he went undrafted.
Former VCU guard Troy Daniels has agreed to a free agent deal with the Bobcats, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Daniels averaged 12.3 PPG and shot 40.3% on three-pointers in his final season with the Rams.
Rodney Williams, Ford's 80th overall prospect in this year's class, has agreed to a deal with the 76ers, tweets Wojnarowski. The 21-year-old forward is coming off four years at the University of Minnesota.
Robert Covington will sign a two-year, partially-guaranteed contract with the Rockets, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com (via Twitter). According to Givony's sources, the guarantee for the former Tennessee State forward will be "substantial" — likely around $150K.

Andre Iguodala Opts Out, Will Be Free Agent

June 28th, 2013 at 10:18am CST by Luke Adams

JUNE 28TH: Iguodala has formally filed his paperwork to opt out, making his decision official, tweets ESPN.com's Chris Broussard.

JUNE 14TH: Andre Iguodala has decided to opt out of the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. According to Wojnarowski, agent Rob Pelinka informed Nuggets CEO Josh Kroenke of the decision on Thursday.

"We are fully aware of Andre's intentions and he's well aware of how much we want him back," Kroenke said. "Andre us a huge priority for our organization."

While there appears to be mutual interest between Nuggets and Iguodala in a new deal, Denver is currently without a GM or coach, which makes the situation a little murkier. There will also be plenty of clubs vying for the 29-year-old's services. Wojnarowski names the Hawks, Cavaliers, Mavericks, Rockets, Pistons, and Pelicans as likely suitors.

An official decision from Iguodala is due by June 25th, but assuming he opts out, he'll be eligible for a new five-year contract from the Nuggets or a four-year deal from another team. He'll pass up a 2013/14 salary that Wojnarowski cites as $15.9MM, though various salary databases have it at $16.15MM — that salary included $250K in likely incentives, so perhaps those incentives are now listed as unlikely.

In any case, although I'm skeptical that Iguodala will land an annual salary that exceeds the approximate $16MM he would have earned on his current contract, he'll certainly be able to secure a significantly larger guarantee in a new long-term deal.

Grizzlies, Nuggets Swap Arthur, Koufos

June 28th, 2013 at 1:14am CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 1:14am: The Nuggets have officially announced the trade in a press release.

THURSDAY, 10:42pm: The Grizzlies and Nuggets have reached an agreement on a trade that will send Darrell Arthur and the 55th overall pick to Denver in exchange for Kosta Koufos, reports ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Twitter).

Arthur will earn about $3.23MM next season, while Koufos makes an even $3MM, so the Nuggets take on a little salary in the deal. As Stein tweets, the Denver front office wasn't happy that George Karl started Koufos over JaVale McGee last season. Even with Karl gone, the Nuggets have ensured that it won't happen again next year.