Odds & Ends: Howard, Haslem, Mavericks
Dwight Howard's upcoming courtship with a host of teams, both longshots and more realistic destinations, is the talk of the league tonight and probably will be moving forward as we come up on the start of the NBA's free agency period, starting with the July moratorium from the 1st to the 9th.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports put a column up earlier tonight stipulating that Howard's first discussion will be with a large, and star-studded coterie of the Rockets' former Hall-of-Famers, current stars, coaches and executives, but next up will be with the Warriors and Hawks on Monday and Mavericks and Lakers on Tuesday.
ESPNLosAngeles.com's Arash Markazi believes it'll be former coach, Phil Jackson, and his fiancee Jeanie Buss, who could be the final piece as to whether or not Howard stays with the Lakers or leaves for one of the other teams with the cap room to absorb a max deal (Twitter). Phil recently met with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, but both remained tight-lipped about what they discussed in that meeting (Twitter).
Let's look at more from Howard and others from around the league in yet another helter-skelter night in the NBA:
- Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News writes that the Warriors are long shots in their bid to acquire Howard, and they'd likely have to dismantle some of the nucleus that reached the Western Conference Semifinals this past postseason. Kawakami also notes that despite their long odds at landing the big man, Warriors owner Joe Lacob has won a mini-victory just earning a spot on Dwight's free agency list this summer (Twitter).
- Another possible Howard destination is with the Mavericks, and Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes that any possible trade for the Celtics' Rajon Rondo would have to wait until after the Mavericks secure Howard because of salary cap stipulations.
- If Howard doesn't sign with the Mavs, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News has plans for other free agent signings for the team this offseason.
- Udonis Haslem revealed to the Associated Press today that he spent the second half of last season with the Heat suffering from a torn meniscus in his knee, which will require surgery soon. He's expected to be ready for training camp in the fall.
- Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel notes that the Magic will guarantee guard E'Twaun Moore's contract for next season, after opting not to extend a qualifying offer to DeQuan Jones.
- Al Iannazzone of Newsday says the Knicks GM Glen Grunwald will have to get creative this offseason if he's going to improve the Knicks' roster.
- Michael Lee of the Washington Post reports the Wizards have promoted Pat Sullivan to assistant coach.
- The newly-named Pelicans will look at small forwards in free agency this offseason, writes John Reid of the Times-Picayune.
Warriors Meeting With Howard Next Week
7:14pm: USA Today's Sam Amick tweets that Howard will meet with the large Rockets contingent (see below) at 9 p.m. PST Sunday when free agency officially begins.
6:59pm: Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that Howard's schedule next week in LA includes Warriors and Hawks on Monday and Mavericks and Lakers on Tuesday.
This comes after Dwight meets with the Rockets late Sunday night when the free agency period officially starts at midnight.
- ESPN.com's Ric Bucher earlier said Howard would not be meeting with the Warriors (Sulia link), but they have been granted the option to visit him, and will take that opportunity league sources tell him. This despite the unlikelihood the Warriors could afford Howard without a sign-and-trade (Sulia link).
6:14pm: Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Warriors owner Joe Lacob, GM Bob Myers and coach Mark Jackson will meet with Howard next week (Twitter).
5:51pm: The Dwight Howard drama continues as we come up on the month of July when teams, other than the Lakers, can pitch the big man on joining forces this summer. Dwight's the biggest question mark among the star free agents this summer, after the Lakers had initially appeared to be the frontrunners to retain the three-time Defensive Player of the Year.
Chris Paul is likely to re-sign with the Clippers after they traded a 2015 first round pick to hire Doc Rivers away from the Celtics, but now the Clippers might be making a move to challenge the Rockets, Mavericks and Lakers for D-12's services, reports Sports on Earth's Shaun Powell (Twitter links).
The Clippers have the OK from owner Donald Sterling to do whatever it takes, but the acqusition of Howard would depend on a salary and sign-and-trade options, since signing Paul and Howard to max contracts would be untenable under the current CBA with their cap space.
According to Powell, Howard wants to play with Paul because he feels the point guard would get him the ball. Despite both Doc and Paul wanting Howard, they won't pursue him at the expense of Blake Griffin (Twitter links). Here's some more surrounding Howard's upcoming week talking with various team's jockeying for his services.
- The Rockets are meeting with Howard first on Sunday night, with owner Leslie Alexander, CEO Tad Brown, general manager Daryl Morey, former stars Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler (the latter of whom comes via MyFoxHouston's Mark Berman), and current stars James Harden and Chandler Parsons, expected to be in attendance.
- But the Mavericks are also putting together a group to meet with Howard on Tuesday in Los Angeles, according to Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter). Dirk Nowitzki and owner Mark Cuban are expected to be a part of the Mavs' formal pitch.
- ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramond Shelburne tweets that Dwight is expected to meet with at least four teams. Emphasis hers.
- Marc Berman of the New York Daily News believes Dwight will head to the Rockets if he leaves the Lakers.
- Kobe Bryant sat down with Mike Trudell at Lakers.com to share his thoughts on Howard's free agency and the importance of Howard arriving at his decision on his own.
Rockets To Meet With Dwight Howard First
The Rockets will meet with Dwight Howard late Sunday night in Los Angeles, soon after teams other than the Lakers become eligible to negotiate with the free agent center, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com. The same can't be said for Golden State, as a source close to Howard tells Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game that the sought-after free agent center won't visit the Warriors to hear a pitch from the team (Sulia link). An earlier report indicated that the Warriors were hoping to sit down with Howard, and that he was likely to indulge them on their request.
Houston's contingent will include GM Daryl Morey, coach Kevin McHale, owner Les Alexander, Hall-of-Fame Rocket Hakeem Olajuwon and current Rockets James Harden and Chandler Parsons, Goodman writes. The Rockets have emerged as the front-runner in the last few weeks for the famously indecisive Howard, whose most serious suitors appear to be Houston, the Mavs and the Lakers, according to Bucher. Parsons has said he's been in contact with Howard every day this spring.
The Warriors don't have cap space for 2013/14, so the only way they could acquire Howard would be via sign-and-trade as Bucher points out. Even if the Lakers agree to such a maneuver, the Warriors would have to send back close to $20MM in salary to make the deal work with a max contract for Howard, which could gut a roster that made it to the Western Conference semifinals last season.
The Hawks don't make much sense for Howard, Bucher writes, adding that Howard may listen to a pitch from Atlanta simply so he's not seen rejecting the notion of coming to his hometown team out of hand.
No. 26 Pick To Thunder, No. 29 To Warriors
FRIDAY, 9:52pm: The Thunder confirmed their end of the trade via press release. Oklahoma City acquired the rights to Roberson (No. 26) in exchange for Archie Goodwin (No. 29) and cash (presumably the $1MM that Kawakami reported).
THURSDAY, 11:22pm: Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News has the details on the Warriors' trades via Twitter. According to Kawakami, Golden State gave up $1.6MM and a 2014 second-rounder for the Wolves' 26th overall pick and Malcolm Lee. The Warriors then got $1MM from the Thunder to move back to No. 29. Finally, Golden State sent Lee and the 29th pick to the Suns for No. 30. The key takeaway here is that Lee's guaranteed 2013/14 salary is now on Phoenix's books.
9:42pm: According to Katz (via Twitter), the Warriors also sent a future second-round pick to the Wolves in order to initially grab the 26th pick.
9:17pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports now reports (via Twitter) that the Thunder have moved up to No. 26, while the Warriors will acquire OKC's No. 29 pick. According to ESPN.com's Jeff Goodman (via Twitter), Golden State bought the 26th pick from Minnesota, then sent it to the Thunder for the 29th pick and cash. The Thunder will take Andre Roberson with the 26th pick, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
9:13pm: The Timberwolves have agreed to send the No. 26 overall pick to the Warriors, according to ESPN.com's Andy Katz (via Twitter). The Wolves had previously picked up an extra first-rounder by sending their 9th overall pick to the Jazz for the 14th and 21st picks. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune first reported (via Twitter) that the Wolves appeared likely to move the 26th pick.
Western Rumors: Mo Williams, Mavs, Harris
There's a major shakeup going on in the Eastern Conference now that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are on their way to Brooklyn. An even more resounding move could happen in the West, where Dwight Howard's primary suitors are. We've got more on that storyline and others from the Western Conference:
- Mo Williams is expected to discuss re-signing in Utah with Jazz brass, but a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that Williams isn't interested in returning if he's not the starter. Last night, the Jazz wound up with point guard Trey Burke in the draft, and he has eyes on the starting job, too, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. (Twitter link).
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tells Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News that he has a couple of meetings with players scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, presumably referring to Howard and Chris Paul. Still, those two big fishes aren't the team's sole focus, as Cuban also says the Mavs were in discussions yesterday about a deal that would have prevented the team from making a maximum-salary signing this summer.
- Devin Harris dropped hints Friday about returning to the Mavericks, where he began his career, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News observes. "It’s always crossed my mind," Harris said. "It’s crossed my mind since I left. Obviously, I think it would be cool to come back. But I also like it in Atlanta. It comes down to what best fits me."
- Howard won't necessarily make the Lakers the last stop on his listening tour as he fields free agent pitches this summer, even though the purple and gold brass would like to see that happen, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- The Lakers are declining the chance to tender Darius Morris a $1.2MM qualifying offer, but the team has interest in re-signing him to a deal worth less than that, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Andrew Goudelock may return as well, but Devin Ebanks won't be back, Pincus adds in a look at the team's would-be restricted free agents.
- Brian Scalabrine is talking with the Warriors about joining the team as an assistant coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Spurs officially announced their hiring of Pacers assistant coach Jim Boylen as an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff. Boylen is not to be confused with Cavs assistant Jim Boylan.
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.
Draft Night Leftovers: Rasheed, Bledsoe, Blazers
If you're looking for the complete results of the 2013 NBA draft, you can find those right here.
- Rasheed Wallace is in talks to join Maurice Cheeks' staff in Detroit as a Pistons assistant, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.
- Magic GM Rob Hennigan told reporters, including Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links), that Orlando was "semi-close" twice to trading the No. 2 pick, and that the team could revisit Eric Bledsoe talks with the Clippers at some point this summer.
- Trail Blazers GM Neil Olshey confirmed tonight that Eric Maynor wouldn't receive a qualifying offer from the team, and will become an unrestricted free agent, according to Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link).
- Olshey added that the Blazers "didn't come close" to making any substantial trades (Twitter link via Joe Freeman of the Oregonian).
- Don't expect Sergey Karasev to be stashed overseas next season. Shams Charania of RealGM.com tweets that the Russian forward will play in the NBA for the Cavaliers.
- There's also no guarantee Nemanja Nedovic will be a draft-and-stash prospect for the Warriors. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com tweets that Golden State wants to evaluate Nedovic in Summer League play before making a decision.
- The Lakers won't extend qualifying offers to Andrew Goudelock, Darius Morris, or Devin Ebanks, GM Mitch Kupchak confirmed (Twitter link via Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News).
Suns Move Up To No. 29
The Warriors have reached an agreement with the Suns that will see Golden State move back to No. 30 from No. 29, while Phoenix moves up a spot, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). The Suns will use the 29th pick to select Archie Goodwin.
Mid-Draft Rumors: Noel, 76ers, Warriors, Suns
You can follow tonight's draft picks right here, but we're hearing plenty of other rumblings outside of the picks themselves. Let's round up a few….
- One executive whose team passed on Nerlens Noel told Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the Kentucky big man is actually healthier than Anthony Bennett or Alex Len, so injury concerns weren't the reason Noel slipped.
- The blockbuster trade the Sixers made, acquiring Noel and a 2014 first-rounder for Jrue Holiday, signals one reason the team hasn't hired a coach yet, tweets Broussard. With a rebuild seemingly on the way, the 76ers wanted a new head coach to know what he was getting into.
- The Warriors are receiving calls on Klay Thompson and Harrison Barnes, but value both players "very, very, very highly," according to Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News (via Twitter).
- The Suns drafted Alex Len to keep him, and have no deals in place, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- A Luke Ridnour/Ekpe Udoh swap between the Timberwolves and Bucks won't happen tonight, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities.
- The Cavs are in the process of trying to move up from No. 19, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
Warriors Inquired On Kevin Garnett
The Warriors inquired on Kevin Garnett's availability on Wednesday, but no progress was made in talks between Golden State and Boston, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
With talks between the Celtics and Nets heating up, it appears that Garnett and Paul Pierce could be headed to Brooklyn, assuming KG decides to waive his no-trade clause. Even if the Celtics and Warriors had been able to agree on a Garnett deal, I would've been surprised if the veteran big man would've waived his no-trade clause to play in Golden State, though that's just my speculation.