Southwest Rumors: Covington, Mavs, Anderson
Robert Covington is in the Rockets plans for next season, but a lot could change before then, tweets Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Only $150,000 of Covington’s $816,482 salary is guaranteed, and it could be on the chopping block if Houston needs the space to sign one of their free agent targets. Here’s more from around the Southwest Division:
- Mavs owner Mark Cuban told 103.3 FM ESPN Dallas that his team will be aggressive in free agency, but won’t be offering max contracts to anyone (transcription via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com).
- Cuban added that Mavs coach Rick Carlisle is one of the biggest draws to Dallas for prospective players. “Rick has got the skill set and we’ve got veteran guys who know how to implement offensive and defensive strategies that really give us a unique opportunity. That’s something that very few teams can say,” said Cuban. “If you look at other teams with cap room and then you just look at their coach and if they’ve made the playoffs, you look at how their playoff runs went, you’re not looking at them and saying, ‘Wow, that team really …’ I don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, but their coaches are not as good as Rick Carlisle.”
- The Spurs selection of Kyle Anderson does not indicate that San Antonio is planning for life without free-agent-to-be Boris Diaw, according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter links). McDonald projects Anderson as likely to go on frequent assignments to the Spurs D-League affiliate this coming season.
Lawrence’s Latest: Boozer, ‘Melo, Grizzlies
There’s genuine fear within the Bulls’ front office that owner Jerry Reinsdorf will refuse to use the amnesty provision on Carlos Boozer this summer, passes along Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Chicago will have a hard time creating the cap room necessary to pursue marquee names if they don’t find a way to get Boozer off the books. Here’s more from Lawrence:
- Carmelo Anthony would be interested in teaming up with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, says Lawrence, but the Lakers are unlikely to have the cap space to bring in both superstars.
- It sounds as if the Rockets‘ pursuit of ‘Melo is unlikely to result in a success. “The only reason Carmelo will go to Houston to listen (to the Rockets) is because of Kevin McHale,” a source told Lawrence. “If the coach wasn’t a top-50, all-time player or was a lesser-name coach, then ‘Melo wouldn’t even visit there. But he’ll listen because it’s Kevin McHale.“
- The Grizzlies are interested in bringing aboard former Knicks president Glen Grunwald to come in and serve under Chris Wallace for two years before taking over the reins as GM, Lawrence writes. That echoes an earlier report from Ken Berger of CBSSports.com but appears to add an expiration date for Wallace’s time in charge of the front office.
- One league source told Lawrence that he wasn’t sure if Bruno Caboclo was even worth a second-round selection. The Raptors selected Caboclo with the 20th pick in the draft, and Lawrence writes that it’s virtually impossible to find a GM who agrees with their decision.
- Utah’s decision to draft Dante Exum isn’t surprising since the the Jazz aren’t sold on Trey Burke as a franchise point guard, reveals Lawrence.
- Dirk Nowitzki won’t even consider signing with a team other than the Mavs this summer, Lawrence confirms.
Knicks Confident About Re-Signing ‘Melo
Sources tell Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com that the Knicks are “quietly confident” they will be able to re-sign Carmelo Anthony, in part due to the star forward’s growing bond with president Phil Jackson. ‘Melo will be chased by teams that appear closer to a championship than New York in free agency, but the Knicks are hoping that their recent trade with the Mavericks, which provided an upgrade at point guard with Jose Calderon, will make their roster more appealing to Anthony.
With head coach Derek Fisher and the newly acquired point guard Calderon, Jackson has put in place some of the pieces for his cherished triangle offense. If Anthony re-signs in New York, one of the biggest remaining gaps for the system would be a skilled big man. The ESPN scribes’ source says that Jackson is planning on pursuing Pau Gasol at a discounted rate to fill that need this summer, and the team has its eye on his brother Marc Gasol for the 2015/16 season, when the Grizzlies center will be a free agent. Currently, the most the Knicks could offer Pau would be the taxpayer’s mid-level exception of $3.278MM, a steep pay decrease from his $19.3MM salary in 2013/14.
This summer will be a highly intriguing one for the Knicks. The hiring of Jackson brought hope to a franchise that has bumbled away opportunities and flexibility for years. Knicks fans have been hoping the Zen Master could work his magic and turn the Knicks’ straw to gold. While a typical turnaround for a franchise as limited as New York requires some losing and patience to regain cap space and assets, Jackson would certainly increase his legend if he could jump start the turnaround in his first year as a front office executive.
‘Melo To Meet With Lakers, Rockets, Mavs, Bulls
FRIDAY, 12:43pm: Anthony will also sit down with the Lakers to hear their free agent pitch as he envisions making a decision in the second week of July, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. The Knicks would be willing to offer a max deal to Anthony if necessary to retain him in spite of Jackson’s repeated requests that he take a discount, Spears also hears.
WEDNESDAY, 4:33pm: Anthony hasn’t identified a favorite yet, Broussard writes in a full piece. The meetings haven’t been formally arranged, since teams can’t yet reach out to Anthony, but those are the clubs Anthony has decided to visit, Broussard clarifies. The Knicks remain “very much alive” in the ‘Melo sweepstakes, Broussard adds, reiterating his earlier report that Kobe Bryant intends to reach out to Anthony, too.
4:18pm: Carmelo Anthony will sit down with representatives from the Rockets, Mavs and Bulls when free agency begins on July 1st, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Leon Rose client has already met on multiple occasions with Knicks president Phil Jackson and his staff.
That list of teams doesn’t include the Lakers, who appeared this week to be in a group with Houston, Dallas and Chicago at the forefront of the race for the high-scoring forward. Still, there’s nearly a week to go before the start of free agency, so the Lakers may still wind up meeting with him.
The Mavs would appear to have the easiest shot at Anthony given their cap flexibility, and it appears that would be true even with the acquisition of Tyson Chandler, as rumored. The Rockets and Bulls would have to perform some salary cap gymnastics, but Houston appears confident it can dump the salaries of Omer Asik and Jeremy Lin, and the Bulls have the option of amnestying Carlos Boozer. Such maneuvers might not be enough to clear money to make a competitive bid for Anthony on their own, but they’d erase the most significant salary hurdles for those teams.
Wolves Trade No. 53 Pick To Rockets
FRIDAY, 1:26am: The trade is official, the Rockets announced (on Twitter).
THURSDAY, 11:05pm: The Wolves have agreed to send the No. 53 pick to the Rockets in exchange for cash, reports Jon Krawczynski of The Associated Press (Twitter link). Italian shooting guard Alessandro Gentile is the selection, reports Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress (on Twitter).
Several Teams Eyeing Trade For Clint Capela
9:21pm: Several teams have interest in trading for Swiss power forward Clint Capela, whom the Rockets took with the 25th pick, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
8:33pm: The Rockets are dangling tonight’s No. 25 overall pick in trade talks as they look to unload salary, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The development is no surprise, given Houston’s desire to clear cap room for a run at marquee free agents like Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Kyle Lowry.
The 25th pick in this year’s draft represents a cap hold of $991K. Most first-round draft picks sign for 120% of the rookie scale, which in this case would mean a salary of $1,189,200 for next season, though some toward the end of the round wind up settling for less than that. Andre Roberson signed for the minimum 80% of the scale after Oklahoma City took him 26th last year.
Warriors Willing To Trade For Jeremy Lin
The Warriors have told the Rockets that they’re on board with trading for Jeremy Lin, reports Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com wrote Wednesday that there was a decent chance that Golden State would be willing to accept the point guard via trade as Houston attempts to clear his salary, as long as Chandler Parsons was also part of the deal. Thompson’s report makes no mention of Parsons, however.
Golden State could use a trade exception worth more than $9.8MM left over from last year’s three-way deal with the Jazz and Nuggets to acquire Lin, as Thompson points out. The Warriors tried in vain to find a capable backup point guard to replace Jarrett Jack this past season, and Lin was once a member of the W’s, who waived him before his sudden rise to fame with the Knicks. Still, it’s unclear just what Houston would have to do to entice Golden State to take back Lin and his nearly $15MM salary for next season, one that dwarfs his nonetheless sizable $8,374,646 cap hit.
Western Rumors: Love, Rockets, Nuggets
Here’s the latest from the Western Conference as the draft gets underway:
- The Wolves spent the afternoon in meetings, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (on Twitter), and he wouldn’t be surprised to see some major news come out tonight regarding Kevin Love and the Warriors.
- Meanwhile, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) believes that the odds are still against a Love trade materializing tonight. However, sources tell him that the two sides continue to talk despite the hangup over whether Klay Thompson is in play.
- Echoing an earlier report from USA Today’s Sam Amick, Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (on Twitter) hears from a rival executive that the Rockets already have a Jeremy Lin deal lined up and ready to execute if they need the cap space to sign Carmelo Anthony or LeBron James. It’s likely that the Rockets flip the first-rounder they’re acquiring from the Pelicans in the Omer Asik trade, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- David Pick of Eurobasket.com has consistently heard that the Nuggets will take Jusuf Nurkic at No. 11 (Twitter link).
- The Thunder will either draft a wing player or trade the 29th overall pick for one, a source tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- The Mavs almost certainly won’t trade for a first-round pick in tonight’s draft, Donnie Nelson says, as Jeff Caplan of NBA.com notes (Twitter link).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Draft Rumors: Jazz, Clippers, Rockets
Jody Genessy of the Deseret News (on Twitter) hears the Jazz are “frantically” trying to move up from the No. 5 spot. Everything Utah has remains available for trade consideration. The Jazz reportedly have their eye on forward Jabari Parker and they know there’s no chance of him falling to No. 5. Here’s the latest draft news..
- Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) hears the Clippers are “50-50” on keeping their first round choice.
- One name to watch for the Rockets at either No. 25 or No. 42 is Russian big man Artem Klimenko, tweets Chad Ford of ESPN.com. Houston has been doing some serious research on him in recent months.
- The Lakers aren’t sensing a lot of momentum for a pre-draft trade and, as of right now, expect to keep the No. 7 pick, tweets Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times.
- The Knicks, Blazers, and Nets are among the teams trying to land a first-round choice, league sources tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- The Hornets have explored moving up from No. 24, league sources tell Kennedy (on Twitter).
- The Kings want to acquire a second-round pick, sources tell Kennedy (Twitter link).
- There are several picks in the late 20s “to be had,” one exec tells Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (on Twitter). With nine teams lacking a first-round pick, there’s a strong market for them.
- Meanwhile, Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears that we could be in for high number of international picks in the 20-to-30 range. That’s because teams are placing a high value on cap space and want to stay away from the luxury tax so clubs might not be lining up to trade for picks in that range as expected (link). The clubs left holding those selections might prefer to go with draft-and-stash candidates in cases where they don’t have obvious, pressing needs.
Western Rumors: Warriors, Asik, Parker, Kings
In an interview with SiriusXM, Warriors star Andre Iguodala said that he doesn’t believe teammate Klay Thompson should be traded as part of a deal for Minnesota’s Kevin Love, writes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group. “That’s not going to happen,” Iguodala said. “I want to clear that up right now. We should not trade Klay Thompson. I tell Klay this every day. I text Klay and say, ‘Don’t worry. I’m your man. I’m going to make sure you get paid. I’m going to get you the max (contract). You’ll be taken care of. Don’t stress.’” Here’s more out of the West..
- More dominoes will fall from the deal that sent Omer Asik to the Pelicans, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. New Orleans may move Austin Rivers to create cap space. One possibility, Windhorst suggests, would be trading him to the Clippers, where Austin’s father holds a trade exception.
- The Rockets talked about sending Asik to the Pelicans for Ryan Anderson, but could not get much traction, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- The Jazz remain interested in Jabari Parker, but sources say there’s still a “big concern” about his right foot, which he broke in high school, tweets Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. However, Parker is still in the lead over Andrew Wiggins on their wish list if they can pull off a deal for the No. 1 pick (link).
- The Kings appear poised to keep the No. 8 pick, sources tell Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).
- Sponsors continue to be skittish about the Clippers as the team’s ownership situation remains unresolved, as Andrea Chang and Tiffany Hsu of the Los Angeles Times detail.
- The Timberwolves received initial criticism for last year’s draft-day trade of Trey Burke to Utah for Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng, but one year later, team president Flip Saunders is happy with the returns, writes Andy Greder of the Pioneer Press.