Rockets Actively Shopping Luis Scola
After drafting a pair of power forwards, Royce White and Terrence Jones, on Thursday night, the Rockets are looking to trade last year's starter. According to ESPN.com's Marc Stein, Houston is actively shopping Luis Scola in trade discussions. A specific trade partner has yet to emerge, says Stein.
Kennedy On Lin, Gordon, Mayo, Hibbert, Hill
We keep hearing teams like the Mavericks, Nets, and Raptors named as potential suitors for Steve Nash, but if one of those teams misses out on both Nash and Deron Williams, its next target could be Jeremy Lin. Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld hears from sources that one of those three clubs could sign Lin to an offer sheet, forcing the Knicks to match. Here are a few more free agent updates from Kennedy, with just over 12 hours left until the fun begins….
Odds & Ends: Rockets, Magic, Wolves, Green
With less than 24 hours to go until teams can officially begin negotiating with free agents, the focus has shifted from the draft and incoming rookies to where NBA veterans will end up. No free agent is more coveted than Deron Williams, but he's narrowed his choices to the Mavs and Nets. There are plenty of quality players left for other teams, however, including Roy Hibbert and Eric Gordon, whom the Rockets will target, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle, adding that the team is also going after Omer Asik. Here's more on the free agent plans of teams around the league and other late-night news:
Draft Notes: Friday
Now that the 2012 draft is officially a thing of the past, we shouldn't require multiple posts to round up all the day's draft-related content, like we did on Thursday. But even with the draft over, a few updates continue to trickle in. We'll round up today's leftover draft notes here, adding any new items to the top throughout the day….
- Sean Deveney of The Sporting News offers grades for each team's draft, and The Toronto Sun's Ryan Wolstat shares his list of winners and losers.
Earlier updates:
Qualifying Offers: Friday
With the NBA's 2012 free agent period just two days away, teams continue to extend qualifying offers to free agents in order to make them restricted. If a qualifying offer is not tendered to a player eligible for restricted free agency, he becomes an unrestricted free agent.
Players who are tendered qualifying offers have the option to accept the one-year contract and hit unrestricted free agency a year from now, but the primary purpose of the offers are to ensure that the player's team can match any offers for him this summer. We'll track today's qualifying offer updates right here, with the latest added to the top of the page….
- The Cavs have made a qualifying offer to Luke Harangody, according to the joint Twitter account of Plain Dealer writers Mary Schmitt Boyer and Jodie Valade. The tender is expected to be around $1.05MM.
Earlier updates:
Reaction To Lamar Odom/Mo Williams Trade
Lamar Odom is finally heading back to Los Angeles after a lost year in Dallas, as the Mavericks, Clippers, Jazz and Rockets finalized a four-team deal that makes Odom a Clipper and Mo Williams a part of a crowded backcourt in Utah. There's plenty of reaction to the trade, including its effect on the Mavs and their pursuit of major free agents. As Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld notes, the Mavs can only use the $8.9MM trade exception they got in the deal if they don't want to renounce the rights to some of their own free agents and go under the salary cap, which they'd have to do to sign Deron Williams or another big-time target from a different team. If the Mavs don't land a major free agent, they can go over the cap to sign their own guys and use the trade exception to swing a deal for another player who can help. Here's the rest of what NBA writers are saying about the trade:
Odom To Clips, Williams To Jazz In 4-Team Deal
The four-team deal between the Jazz, Mavericks, Clippers and Rockets that sends Lamar Odom to the Clippers and Mo Williams to Utah has been finalized, according to a release by the Mavs.
Mavs, Clippers, Jazz Agree To Odom Deal
FRIDAY, 6:17pm: The deal, which could become official later today, will also involve the Rockets, who'll receive Furkan Aldemir, taken 53rd by the Clippers in Thursday's draft, writes Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Rockets will send cash to the Mavs, tweets fellow Los Angeles Times writer Brad Turner.
FRIDAY, 5:32pm: The Mavericks and Odom have agreed to extend the deadline to fully guarantee Odom's contract by one day, until tomorrow, so that the trade can be finalized, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com says "only paperwork" is left to be done before the deal is official (Twitter links).
4:43pm: Williams has agreed to join the Jazz, a source tells Brian T. Smith of The Salt Lake Tribune (via Twitter).
Odds & Ends: Nash, Lakers, Kings, Bulls, Rockets
Another NBA draft is in the books, and once again, we're reminded that no matter how many draft rumors we read, and how many mock drafts we run through, we have no idea what will happen on draft night. While the latest version of Hoops Rumors' own mock draft looked okay a couple days ago, you can count our accurate picks on one hand. Be sure to check out the complete draft results for a rundown of every pick and trade from Thursday night, but with the draft behind us, we're looking ahead to free agency. Here are a few post-draft odds and ends from around the Association:
More Draft Rumors: Thursday
Our previous round-up of Thursday's draft rumors was getting a little unwieldy, so here's a new post for the evening's rumors. Even with the draft underway, the rumors continue to pour in, so we'll round up the latest updates right here. Here's the latest draft buzz, with the newest items up top:
- After trading three picks for one to land Tyler Zeller, the Cavs are trying to trade back into the draft, tweets Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio.
- The Grizzlies intend to keep Tony Wroten, the 25th overall pick, but are working on a trade, tweets Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Earlier updates: