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Latest On Jason Terry

August 9th, 2015 at 5:13pm CST by Eddie Scarito

SUNDAY, 5:13pm: Terry is contemplating the Pelicans’ offer, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com tweets.

SATURDAY, 2:15pm: A team source has informed ESPN’s Calvin Watkins (on Twitter) that the Rockets aren’t sure if they are still in the mix for Terry.

FRIDAY, 5:21pm: Unrestricted free agent Jason Terry has received a contract offer from the Pelicans, Terry’s representatives tell Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link). The length and terms of the offer are not yet known, nor is Terry’s interest level in joining New Orleans. The Pelicans, who are over the cap, already have $75,617,845 in guaranteed salaries committed for next season to 12 players. That figure doesn’t include restricted free agent Norris Cole, who is reportedly entertaining the notion of signing his qualifying offer worth more than $3.037MM.

The offer from the Pelicans couldn’t be for more than the $2.139MM biannual exception, which is the most the team can give outside free agents after spending most of its mid-level exception on Dante Cunningham and Alonzo Gee. The Rockets would trigger an $88.74MM hard cap if they signed Terry for more than the minimum, and Houston already has a team salary of about $85.2MM, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. Houston still hasn’t signed No. 32 overall pick Montrezl Harrell, adding another layer of complication.

Terry, 37, also has a contract offer on the table from the Rockets, though he considers the amount of Houston’s offer insufficient, Berman notes. Houston has renounced Terry’s Bird rights, according to the RealGM transactions log. This means the team is limited to inking him to a deal with a starting salary of no more than the roughly $2MM slice of the mid-level exception left over from the K.J. McDaniels signing, which also took up a portion of the mid-level. Terry and the Mavs reportedly had conversations about the guard returning to Dallas.

In 77 appearances for the Rockets last season Terry posted averages of 7.0 points, 1.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 21.3 minutes per contest. His slash line was .422/.390/.813.

Southwest Notes: Lawson, Marjanovic, Mavs

August 7th, 2015 at 8:59am CST by Chuck Myron

The Southwest Division put five teams in the playoffs this past season and may well do so again in 2015/16, but it doesn’t receive much love from the ESPN Insider 5-on-5 crew, none of whom rank the Spurs or another Southwest team as the NBA’s best heading into the coming season. The Spurs and Rockets get one nomination each for No. 2, and while San Antonio gets plenty of support for No. 3, Bradford Doolittle and Ethan Sherwood Strauss both cite marquee free agent signing LaMarcus Aldridge‘s need for an adjustment period as one reason why they don’t rank the Spurs more highly. While we wait to see if the Spurs indeed encounter a measure of adversity, see more from around the Southwest here:

The Rockets understand the risk involved in having traded for Ty Lawson, GM Daryl Morey tells Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com, who details Lawson’s string of alcohol-related brushes with the law and his potential path to recovery. “We take those very seriously,” Morey said of Lawson’s issues. “He’s had some very serious incidents in his past and in his recent past. We feel like he’s part of the Rockets family now and through our conversations with him we feel confident he’s getting the help he needs and he’s taken that step to say this is something he needs to do is improve on those areas.”
The agent for Boban Marjanovic disputes the Spurs‘ claims that he’s not healthy enough to play for his national team this summer, as Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News details. The Serbian Basketball Federation is also fighting the decision that the Spurs made over concerns about ankle and foot problems for the center whom they signed last month. “After the game, he didn’t play basketball for 5 weeks,” agent Misko Raznatovic wrote on Twitter, referring to a June 28th contest (Twitter links). “Absolutely out of physical activity. And now is badly injured and can’t play! NO WAY!”
The subtraction of Monta Ellis, the additions of Wesley Matthews, Deron Williams, John Jenkins and first-round pick Justin Anderson, and the retention of Charlie Villanueva set the Mavericks up to become more of an outside shooting team this coming season, as Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com examines.

And-Ones: Brooks, Contracts, Spurs

August 5th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the bulk of the offseason free agent signings in the rearview, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders examined whom he believes to be the best values amongst the free agent contracts doled out this Summer. The Cavs‘ re-signing LeBron James snagged the top spot, but Pincus also is a fan of the Celtics inking Amir Johnson, David West signing with the Spurs, and Brandan Wright‘s pact with the Grizzlies. The Basketball Insiders scribe notes that the best aspect of Johnson’s deal with Boston is that the second year is non-guaranteed, making him a potentially valuable trade chip next season.

Here’s more from around the league:

MarShon Brooks, who last played in the NBA with the Lakers during the 2013/14 season, has signed with the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (Twitter link).
The Rockets sent the Nuggets $440k as part of the trade for Ty Lawson, and the Thunder forked over $1.5MM to the Celtics as part of the trade for Perry Jones III, Pincus relays (Twitter links).
Danny Green believes that the combination of the Spurs signing free agent LaMarcus Aldridge, and re-signing both Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan, will likely keep coach Gregg Popovich from retiring in the near future, Mike Monroe of The San Antonio Express News relays. “Without LaMarcus and Kawhi I think he’s out the door when Timmy [Duncan] leaves,” Green said. “Them being here I think extends his tenure just a little bit longer. Pop loves the game, obviously. I don’t see him stepping away fully. Even if he ever did he’d always be in the front office, or around or something.”

Southwest Notes: West, Marjanovic, Ndour

August 4th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Chuck Myron

David West had kept the Spurs on his radar as a potential destination for years prior to his surprising decision to sign with San Antonio last month for the minimum salary, as the power forward told WRAL-FM in Raleigh, North Carolina (audio link; transcription via Dan McCarney of the San Antonio Express-News).

“At this point, I just want to win games,” West said. “I feel like I’m in a position to where I had a choice to make. I just chose to give myself a chance to win. The Spurs have an unbelievable culture. I just want an opportunity to be in that system and experience it and see what comes of it.”

Among those who signed new deals this summer, West will see the third greatest decline in pay this coming season compared to last. See more on the Spurs amid the latest from the Southwest Division:

The Serbian national team said it will challenge a decision the Spurs have made to pull newly signed center Boban Marjanovic out of international competition this summer, as the Serbian Basketball Federation announced and as Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia translates. Serbia provided a copy of a letter the Spurs sent informing the national squad that it had exercised its right to unilaterally withdraw the center from international play because doctors had found a congenital defect in his feet that makes them more vulnerable to breaking. Marjanovic played on a broken foot this spring to help his club team, Red Star Belgrade, win the Serbian KLS League title, as David Pick recently chronicled for Bleacher Report.
Grantland’s Zach Lowe is willing to cautiously bet that the Rockets won’t sign rookie scale extensions with either Terrence Jones or Donatas Motiejunas out the desire for greater cap flexibility next summer. Still, Lowe sees the extension candidacy of Jones as especially fascinating (Twitter link).
Mavs signee Maurice Ndour has a partial guarantee worth $437K on his $874,636 salary for the 2016/17 season, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders reveals (Twitter link).

Southwest Rumors: Matthews, Bonner, Rockets

August 3rd, 2015 at 7:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have tempered their expectations of Wesley Matthews for the upcoming season because they don’t want to jeopardize his future, according to Earl K. Sneed of Mavs.com. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle said that the club won’t take any shortcuts as Matthews recovers from a torn Achilles tendon, Sneed continues. “I think the most important thing is that he makes a full recovery, because we’re signing him to a four-year deal,” Carlisle said. “The first year is more about making sure that he’s right and getting him out there on the right terms, and from there we want him to make a full recovery and continue to get better.” Matthews said in the same story that the Mavs will get their money’s worth, even though they have been criticized for giving him a $70MM deal. “It’s just going to make me hungrier to prove that I’m worth the money,” he said. “I’m not concerned with that. I just know that I can play this game, and I know that I can play it at a high level.”

In other news around the Southwest Division:

Maurice Ndour will see $1 more the minimum on his three-year contract with the Mavericks, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). It’s fully guaranteed for this season, but the guarantees beyond that are still unknown, Pincus indicates. Brandon Ashley, Jarrid Famous and Jamil Wilson are also receiving the minimum from the Mavs this year, Pincus shows on the same page.
Matt Bonner received a $795,000 guarantee from the Spurs on his $1.5MM deal, Pincus reports in a separate tweet. Bonner gets the full amount if he’s still on the roster on January 10th.
Rockets executive vice president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas has been named International Player Personnel Scout for USA Basketball, the team announced Monday. Entering his fourth season with the Rockets in that capacity, Rosas was previously the Mavericks’ GM.

Western Notes: McDaniels, Barton, Babbitt

August 2nd, 2015 at 9:15pm CST by Chuck Myron

Here’s a look at the latest contract news from the Western Conference:

The three-year contract that K.J. McDaniels signed with the Rockets is worth exactly $10MM, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows (Twitter link).
Will Barton will make $3,533,333 in each season with no options in his new three-year deal with the Nuggets, according to Pincus.
Luke Babbitt‘s two year deal with the Pelicans is for the minimum salary, reports Pincus (Twitter link).
Salah Mejri is receiving a guaranteed rookie minimum of $525,093 this season, the first on his three-year deal with the Mavs, tweets Pincus.

Will Joseph contributed to this post.

Northwest Notes: Durant, Thunder, Blazers

July 29th, 2015 at 3:59pm CST by Zachary Links

The Blazers acquired Mike Miller from the Cavs earlier this week but he’s probably not sticking around for long. The veteran is a “strong candidate” to negotiate a buyout with Portland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, and the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Mavs already appear to be interested. While we wait for more on that, here’s more from the Northwest Division..

The Thunder remain the front-runners for Kevin Durant‘s 2016 free agency, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News sizes up the chances that the Wizards, Warriors, Rockets, Heat, Clippers, Mavericks, Celtics, Knicks and Lakers all of have of convincing the former MVP to leave OKC.
The Thunder viewed Kevin Seraphin as a possible fall-back option if they did not re-sign Enes Kanter, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. At this point, a one-year deal is more likely for Seraphin than a long-term pact, Castillo writes. OKC, of course, has retained Kanter. The Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards are showing interest in Seraphin at this time.
The SI.com staff debated which team took the biggest step back this summer and multiple writers cast their ballots for the Trail Blazers. The Blazers, of course, have watched Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez wind up elsewhere this summer. Damian Lillard has been surrounded with some promising young talent, but they seem likely to take a big step back in 2015/16.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Pelicans Sign Kendrick Perkins

July 28th, 2015 at 11:13am CST by Eddie Scarito

JULY 28TH, 11:13pm: The deal is official, the Pelicans announced.

JULY 21ST, 6:49pm: The Pelicans and unrestricted free agent Kendrick Perkins are in the process of finalizing a contract agreement, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). It will be a one-year pact for the veteran’s minimum, Stein adds.

The Clippers, Rockets, and Knicks had all expressed interest in the 30-year-old center. Instead, Perkins will add depth and grit behind starter Omer Asik, who re-signed with New Orleans this offseason for five years and approximately $60MM.

Perkins appeared in a combined 68 games for the Thunder and the Cavaliers, averaging 4.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for OKC and 2.6 PPG and 2.4 RPG for Cleveland. His career numbers through 12 NBA seasons are 5.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.2 BPG to go along with a slash line of .530/.000/.597.

Latest On Carlos Boozer

July 28th, 2015 at 9:12am CST by Chuck Myron

The Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks continue to have interest in signing Carlos Boozer, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Scotto first identified the Knicks as among the teams eyeing the Rob Pelinka client earlier this month, though Marc Berman of the New York Post reported soon thereafter that the Knicks had engaged in internal conversations about him but hadn’t made a formal pursuit. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com pegged the Mavs and Rockets as among the teams in on Boozer just before free agency began, while Broussard later heard that the Mavs were one of four teams in talks with the former All-Star.

The Knicks and Mavericks have access to the $2.814MM room exception. The Rockets are in a tough spot, since they only have roughly $2.3MM left on their mid-level exception to spend but would trigger a hard cap if they gave any of it to Boozer. Houston also has No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell who remains unsigned.

Several other teams, including the Clippers, Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat, have reportedly been interested in Boozer over the last month, but it’s unclear if any of them remain in the mix. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest.

Rockets Sign Marcus Thornton To One-Year Deal

July 25th, 2015 at 2:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

JULY 25TH, 2:30pm: The signing is official, Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston tweets.

JULY 12TH, 1:58pm: Thornton turned down larger offers to sign with the Rockets, his agent told Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “He needs to play to sort of re-invent himself in the league and this was a perfect fit,” Dutt said. “There were some teams trying to do some things for him, but this was right. He’s very excited. This is going to be fun.”

1:13pm: Marcus Thornton has agreed to a one-year contract with the Rockets, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. Thornton has signed for the minimum, his agent, Tony Dutt, tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports. (Twitter link).

Dutt says Thornton called the Rockets a “perfect fit” for him, adding that his client is “excited” about going to Houston (Twitter link). Former NBA executive Bobby Marks sees Thornton as a younger version of Jason Terry (Twitter link), who is an unrestricted free agent after playing last season with the Rockets.

Thornton averaged 7.9 points per game in 2014/15 with the Celtics and Suns, but played sparingly in Phoenix after being part of the deal that brought Isaiah Thomas to Boston. Thornton appeared in just nine games for the Suns and averaged just nine minutes per contest. The Heat met with Thornton last week but didn’t offer him a deal, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports.

Because Thornton signed a minimum contract, Houston still has its full mid-level exception available. Some of that could be used to sign unrestricted free agent Josh Smith or restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels.