And-Ones: Clark, Shved, Bogdanovic
Add Warriors guard Ian Clark to the list of wing players who interest the Timberwolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. C.J. Miles remains their prime target, but Minnesota doesn’t have enough cap room left to make a competitive offer. The Wolves have discussed a sign-and-trade that would send center Cole Aldrich and Oklahoma City’s 2018 first-rounder to Indiana in exchange for Miles, according to an ESPN report.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Alexey Shved may void the final year of his contract with Khimki Moscow in order to return to the NBA, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Shved last played in the NBA for the Knicks during the 2014/15 campaign.
- The Kings are covering all of Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s $850K NBA buyout with Fenerbahce, a source tells Pick (Twitter link). Sacramento signed the swingman to a three-year deal worth $27MM, which is the richest contract for a rookie in league history.
- Phil Ricci will join the Kings’ coaching staff as an assistant player development coach, James Ham of NBC Sports tweets. Ricci played professionally abroad for several seasons before coaching at the high school level.
- Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace has penned a thank you letter to Zach Randolph for his contributions over the past eight years. The note, which is posted on the team’s website, credits Randolph for helping to establish Memphis’ “grit and grind” identity. Randolph agreed to a two-year, $24MM deal with the Kings on Tuesday. The Grizzlies also announced today that Randolph’s number will be retired.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post
Kevin Durant Re-Signs With Warriors
JULY 6: Durant has officially re-signed with the Warriors, per RealGM’s transactions log.
JULY 3: Kevin Durant has agreed to a two-year, $53MM contact with the Warriors, Chris Haynes of ESPN.com tweets. The second year will be a player option, Haynes adds in another tweet. Durant’s salary for next season will be $25MM, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets.
Durant’s willingness to take far less than a 20% raise aided the Warriors’ efforts to retain their free agents, Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News reports.
Durant, who opted out of his contract with the full intention of re-signing with Golden State, was eligible to receive a maximum starting salary of $34.65MM. Durant, who made $26.54MM last season, decided to take significantly less than the expected 20% raise that would have secured him a $31.8MM salary for next season.
That is a major reason why the Warriors successfully negotiated new contracts with free agents Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston. Iguodala, who was sought after by numerous clubs, agreed to a three-year, $48MM deal while Livingston agreed to stay put for three years and $24MM. In essence, as Thompson points out, Durant is gifting part of his salary for next season to his teammates.
Durant’s discount will also help ownership save some money on its luxury tax bill, depending upon how far over the tax line the franchise goes. Durant’s first-year salary will save the franchise approximately $20MM, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, who projects Golden State will now pay $32.4MM instead of $52.4MM in luxury taxes.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
David West Re-Signs With Warriors, Will Retire In 2018
JULY 6: The Warriors have officially re-signed West, according to RealGM’s transactions log.
JULY 1: Veteran big man David West has agreed to return to the Warriors on a one-year contract, according to David Aldridge of TNT (via Twitter). Aldridge reports that the 2017/18 season will be West’s last year in the NBA.
The details of West’s deal aren’t yet known, but a minimum salary contract seems likely. West’s minimum salary for 2017/18 is $2,328,652 but the Warriors would only need to pay $1,471,382, as outlined in Hoops Rumors’ minimum salaries chart for next season.
West, 38, sought an NBA championship the last two seasons; he was unsuccessful in his lone season with the Spurs but finally captured the once elusive gold as a member of this season’s Warriors team. In 68 games off Golden State’s bench, West averaged 4.6 PPG and 3.0 RPG while playing just under 13 minutes per game.
Once a perennial 20 PPG threat with the Hornets and a solid contributor with the Pacers, West has embraced his role as a veteran leader and it paid dividends last season. He will give it one more try for another ring next season before calling it a career after what would be 15 NBA seasons.
Southeast Notes: Meeks, Porter, Reed, Magic
The Wizards will use their mid-level exception instead of their bi-annual exception to sign Jodie Meeks, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. The change was made to avoid being hard-capped by the expected re-signing of Otto Porter. Meeks will still receive $7MM over two seasons; the money will just come from a different source (Twitter link). The Wizards still haven’t received the Nets’ offer sheet for Porter, adds J. Michael of CSNMidAtlantic (Twitter link).
There’s more from the Southeast Division:
- The Clippers, Warriors, Hawks, Sixers and Pacers all remain in the market for Heat back-up center Willie Reed, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Miami also hopes to re-sign him.
- The Magic’s new management team is taking a cautious attitude toward rebuilding, relays Josh Robbins of The Orlando Sentinel. Orlando has been quiet during the first week of free agency, despite coming off a 29-53 season and having up to $15.1MM available to spend. “There’s a lot less money in the free-agent market this year than there was last year,” said Jeff Weltman, the team’s new president of basketball operations. “And so, the approach that we’ve taken is to kind of wait and see how some of that shakes out towards the next phase of free agency and see which players we may be able to get into discussions with at that point. But we’ve been touching base with a lot of guys and just kind of gauging the market.”
- The Hornets have promoted Buzz Peterson to assistant GM, the team announced on its website. A former standout at North Carolina and a head coach at five colleges, Peterson had been serving as the Hornets’ senior advisor to basketball operations. “He brings a wide breadth of basketball knowledge to the position, having been involved in the game at various levels for close to three decades,” said Charlotte GM Rich Cho. “I’m excited to be working more closely with Buzz in his new role and look forward to his continued contributions to our basketball team.”
JaVale McGee To Meet With Clippers
Free agent center JaVale McGee has a meeting lined up with the Clippers on Wednesday, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (via Twitter). Wojnarowski also reported previously that L.A. has scheduled a meeting with free agent point Derrick Rose for today.
A nine-year NBA veteran, McGee played a career-low 9.6 minutes per game for the Warriors last year, but his per-minute production skyrocketed in Golden State. The veteran center averaged a career-high 23.0 points per 36 minutes, and his .652 FG% was also easily the best of his career.
The Warriors have been busy since the free agent period began, striking deals to bring back key free agents like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala, Shaun Livingston, and David West. There hasn’t been much chatter about McGee’s status, but Wojnarowski says the 29-year-old has remained engaged with the Dubs on the possibility of a return.
Like the Warriors, the Clippers are over the cap, so they could offer McGee either a minimum salary deal or part or all of their mid-level exception. The Clips’ MLE could be worth up to $5.192MM if they want to avoid a hard cap, or up to $8.406MM if they’re comfortable with being hard-capped for a second consecutive year. L.A. was the only NBA team to use its bi-annual exception a year ago, so it’s not available this time around.
The Clippers’ frontcourt is getting a little crowded, with the club already having agreed to re-sign Blake Griffin to rejoin DeAndre Jordan in the starting lineup. L.A. also added Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell and agreed to a sign-and-trade for Danilo Gallinari. Still, that group doesn’t include a big, rim-protecting backup for Jordan, so there could be a role for McGee with the franchise.
Free Agent Rumors: Wolves, Knicks, Waiters, Jazz
The Timberwolves were linked to free agent swingman C.J. Miles earlier today, but weren’t necessarily considered a probable landing spot for Miles due to the team’s lack of cap flexibility. However, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link), who passed along the initial report on Miles, the Pacers are open to the idea of a sign-and-trade which would net them Cole Aldrich‘s contract and OKC’s 2018 first-round pick from Minnesota.
Both teams would have to agree on that sign-and-trade scenario, and of course Miles would also have to be on board, so there may be some snags along the way. But as Wolfson points out, there are ways for the Wolves to get creative if they really want to land Miles or another free agent.
Wolfson has more on the Wolves, tweeting that he has heard the team made an offer to Nick Young. That offer would likely be worth the $4.3MM room exception, and Young turned down a $5.67MM player option with the Lakers last month, so I’d be surprised if Minnesota’s offer is enough to land him, but the club clearly remains on the lookout for shooting help.
Here’s more on free agency:
- The Knicks continue to stay in touch with free agent guard Dion Waiters, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Waiters and Rajon Rondo remain on the Lakers‘ radar.
- With Gordon Hayward and Otto Porter off the board, the Jazz have expressed interest in Rudy Gay, says Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). As Royce Young of ESPN tweets, Patrick Patterson essentially took the deal that Gay was unwilling to with the Thunder, so OKC may be out, leaving the Heat and Jazz as the top contenders for Gay.
- Having already brought back nearly all of their key free agents, the Warriors are also considered likely to re-sign Zaza Pachulia, according to Sam Amick of USA Today.
- After a strong showing for the Pistons in Summer League play, Eric Moreland is believed to have received a multiyear contract offer from Detroit, tweets Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders.
Pacific Notes: Hill, Young, Collison, Clippers
The Lakers believe George Hill could provide backcourt depth, improve their outside shooting and serve as a locker room veteran, writes Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News. The 31-year-old free agent met with L.A. officials on Monday, although no deal was reached. Hill could be used as a backup to rookie point guard Lonzo Ball or could be shifted to shooting guard. He averaged a career-high 16.9 points with the Jazz last season and shot .403 from 3-point range.
In their quest for backcourt help, the Lakers also met with Dion Waiters on Sunday and have had several phone conversations with Rajon Rondo. L.A. has spoken to several coaches and players who have worked with Rondo to see how he might handle a mentor’s role with Ball.
There’s more news from the Pacific Division:
- The Timberwolves are the latest team to reach out to Lakers guard Nick Young, Medina notes in the same story. They join the Warriors, Thunder and Pelicans, who have also been linked to the 10-year veteran. Young revived his career this season, becoming a full-time starter and averaging 13.2 points per game.
- The Clippers, Knicks and Magic all contacted Darren Collison before he agreed to a two-year deal with the Pacers Monday night, tweets Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 in Sacramento. The Kings made no effort to keep Collison, he adds.
- A proposed three-team trade that would bring Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers would push the team closer to the repeater tax, posts Bobby Marks on ESPN Now. Adding Gallinari would give L.A. 10 players under contract with $110.4MM in guaranteed salary. The Clippers would hit the repeater tax if their salary tops $119M, so they will have to be careful in assembling the rest of their roster.
- Gary Sacks has resigned as Clippers assistant GM, tweets Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Sacks’ contract expired Friday.
Warriors Considered Front-Runners For Jamal Crawford
11:15am: The Cavaliers and Spurs are also interested in Crawford if the buyout goes through, Haynes tweets, although Atlanta would prefer to trade him. Crawford has more than $17.2MM in guaranteed money over the next two seasons, and the Hawks would want him to give up a significant portion of that before agreeing to a buyout, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
9:24am: Once Jamal Crawford gets bought out by the Hawks, there’s a good chance he will sign with the Warriors, according to Chris Haynes and Marc J. Spears of ESPN.com.
Crawford is part of a proposed three-team trade that would send Paul Millsap to the Nuggets and Danilo Gallinari to the Clippers. Crawford would be shipped to the Hawks, along with Diamond Stone, and will petition Atlanta for a buyout, sources told ESPN.
Once he hits the market, Golden State would be favored to sign him with its $5.2MM taxpayer mid-level exception.
Crawford, 37, played for the Warriors during the 2008/09 season and often talks about how much he enjoys the Bay Area, according to Haynes and Spears. The three-time Sixth Man of the Year appeared in all 82 games for the Clippers this season, averaging 12.3 points per night. He has said he will only consider playing for contenders once the buyout is complete.
The Warriors are also pursuing Nick Young, the authors add, with Draymond Green and Kevin Durant playing a part in the recruiting. The 10-year veteran is also in talks with the Pelicans, who can offer more playing time, but Golden State could give Young his first chance to win a title.
The Warriors probably don’t have the resources to add both Crawford and Young, but the ESPN story says there is a “strong possibility” they will land one of them.
Free Agent Rumors: Durant, Hill, Rockets, Hayward
Kevin Durant would have give the Warriors an even bigger discount to help them land Kings free agent Rudy Gay if Andre Iguodala had not agreed to re-sign, Sam Amick of USA Today tweets. Durant agreed to a two-year, $53MM contract on Monday with a starting salary of $25MM. Iguodala agreed to a three-year, $48MM contract to remain with Golden State. Amick’s tweet gives insight into the type of money it will take to land Gay despite the Achilles tear he suffered last season.
In other free agent developments:
- The Nuggets are still pursuing free agent point guard George Hill and trying to clear cap to make that happen, Amick tweets. Denver already made a big splash by reaching an agreement with power forward Paul Millsap on a three-year, $90MM contract. The Lakers are in serious discussions with Hill on a one-year deal but Los Angeles is also considering another free agent point guard, Rajon Rondo, according to Amick (Twitter link).
- Rockets GM Daryl Morey plans to hold onto his remaining non-guaranteed contracts and $3.3MM bi-annual exception, Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Morey might add a player on a minimum contract, Feigen adds.
- The Jazz’s meeting with Gordon Hayward on Monday lasted 3 1/2 hours and included newly-acquired point guard Ricky Rubio, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Hayward held meetings with the Heat and Celtics the previous two days and is expected to make a decision within the next two days.
Free Agent Rumors: Wolves, Young, Knicks, Gay
Although the Warriors remain an option for Nick Young, several other teams are in the mix, per Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link). Oklahoma City and New Orleans have been mentioned as possible landing spots, and Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter link) says the Timberwolves have also inquired.
As Wolfson notes in a separate tweet, Minnesota has reached out to Gerald Green as well. The Timberwolves are “casting a wide net” for wing options, in the hopes that a bigger name falls into their lap for the $4.3MM room exception, says Wolfson.
Here are more free agency updates from around the NBA:
- According to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link), the Knicks have told multiple agents that they believe they’re closing in on a deal with a guard. Kyler suggests that mystery guard may be Derrick Rose or Shelvin Mack. Of those two, Mack seems like the more probable candidate, as a Sunday report suggested that Knicks GM Steve Mills isn’t bullish on bringing back Rose.
- Rudy Gay was “impressed” by the Clippers‘ presentation to him on Sunday, but no deal is in place between the two sides, tweets Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. The team met with Danilo Gallinari on the weekend as well.
- Appearing on Zach Lowe’s ESPN podcast for the first time, cap guru Bobby Marks expressed skepticism that the Nets will go after Pistons restricted free agent Kentavious Caldwell-Pope as aggressively as they pursued RFAs a year ago. Brooklyn has frequently been linked to KCP and Otto Porter, but there has been no word yet about a Nets offer for either player. Brooklyn was scheduled to meet with Porter today, according to Matt Moore of CBSSports.com.