Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Pacers Rumors

Pistons Interested In C.J. Miles

June 1st, 2017 at 4:29pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Pistons have interest in adding C.J. Miles this offseason, a source tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Miles will reportedly opt out of his deal with the Pacers to become a free agent this summer.

Ellis cautions that any additions will depend on what happens with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock. Detroit already has nearly $95MM in guaranteed salary on the books for next season, so even if the team lets each one of its free agent wings walk, it won’t have much flexibility to add a sizable deal.

KCP and Bullock are both restricted free agents, so it’s likely coach/executive Stan Van Gundy opts to retain at least one of the two. If the team goes over the salary cap, which is projected to come in at $101MM, it will have the $8.4MM mid-level exception to work with and a new deal for Miles could fit into that slot. The swingman would have made roughly $4.77MM had he decided to stay on his deal with Indiana.

Miles, who spent the last three seasons with the Pacers, shot 43.4% from downtown on 8.5 attempts per contest last season. Detroit will certainly look to add shooting after making just 33.0% of its shots from behind the arc as a team last season, a figure which ranks 28th in the league.

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Bucks Receive Permission To Interview GM Candidates

May 31st, 2017 at 12:06pm CST by Luke Adams

12:06pm: ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links) provides an additional update on the Bucks’ GM search, noting that there’s still one GM candidate that the team hasn’t been given permission to interview. As was the case when Atlanta and Orlando expressed interest, the Cavs still aren’t granting permission to speak to David Griffin during the playoffs.

We heard last week that Cavaliers GM David Griffin, a popular target this spring for teams seeking a top basketball exec, is among the names on Milwaukee’s wish list.

11:35am: With John Hammond headed to Orlando, the Bucks’ search for a new general manager is underway. And according to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, Milwaukee has requested and received permission to speak to a handful of candidates about the open position.

The Bucks are eyeing Pacers president of basketball operations Peter Dinwiddie, Nuggets assistant GM Arturas Karnisovas, Grizzlies VP of player personnel Ed Stefanski, and Hawks advisor Wes Wilcox, league sources inform Wojnarowski. Each of those four clubs has given Milwaukee permission to interview their respective execs.

According to Wojnarowski, Dinwiddie and Karnisovas have become two of the NBA’s “most respected” young executives. Wilcox and Stefanski are veteran execs — Wilcox was recently removed from Atlanta’s GM role, while Stefanski has a history with Bucks consultant Rod Thorn, having worked with him in New Jersey.

Although assistant GM Justin Zanik is currently running day-to-day operations for the Bucks, and is said to be a strong candidate to replace Hammond in the permanent GM role, the team is reportedly conducting a “broad” search for its new head of basketball operations.

Retweet 11 Share 0 Send via email0

C.J. Miles To Opt Out, Become Free Agent

May 30th, 2017 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran swingman C.J. Miles will opt out of his contract with the Pacers this summer, becoming an unrestricted free agent, reports Chris Haynes of ESPN.com. Miles has a player option for the 2017/18 season worth approximately $4.77MM, but will decline that option in search of a more lucrative deal.

Miles, who turned 30 last month, was a key rotation piece for the Pacers in 2016/17, making a career-best 41.3% of his attempts from beyond the arc. He also averaged 2.2 made three-pointers per game for the third consecutive season.

Miles was one of two Pacers players who had a mutual option of sorts for ’17/18. The Pacers had the opportunity to waive both Miles and Rodney Stuckey before the end of the regular season to avoid the risk of guaranteeing their salaries for next season. The team cut Stuckey and hung onto Miles, but with Miles opting out, Indiana won’t carry his salary on its books next year anyway.

While Miles’ reps may point to a player like Courtney Lee, who signed a four-year, $48MM contract with the Knicks last summer at age 30, as a logical comparison for their client, I’d be surprised if Miles lands a deal in that range. He should do fairly well in free agency, earning a raise and a multiyear commitment, but teams around the league simply won’t have the same kind of cap room available to overspend on free agents this time around.

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Retaining Teague Will Be Costly

May 25th, 2017 at 11:38am CST by Dana Gauruder
  • The Pacers need to re-sign Jeff Teague but the cost will be substantial, according to Jay Siskin of AmicoHoops.net.  Teague, who made $8MM this past season, will get a huge raise as he heads into the free agent market for the first time. While Teague enjoys playing for his hometown team, point-guard starved teams such as the Nets, Magic, Mavericks and Knicks could make runs at him and drive up his pricetag, Siskin adds.
Retweet 8 Share 0 Send via email0

Diallo Drawing Interest As Deadline To Withdraw Nears

May 24th, 2017 at 10:01am CST by ChrisCrouse

Hamidou Diallo hasn’t played organized basketball in nearly five months, but he’s drawing interest around the league, sources tell Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link). The Nets, Bulls, Bucks, Heat, Pacers and Jazz have all expressed interest in the athletic shooting guard.

Diallo is currently ranked as the 42nd best prospect in the draft, according to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express. Some believe he has a chance to move into the first round, as Zagoria writes in a full-length piece for The New York Times. “I would not be surprised if his combination of athleticism and skills opens some eyes, and then he’ll have a tough decision,” ESPN’s Fran Fraschilla said. ” Do you want to be the 25th pick in this year’s draft or do you want to have a chance to maybe be a top 10 pick [next year].”

The Queens native hasn’t yet made a decision yet on whether he will remain in the draft or play at Kentucky, Zagoria passes along in a full-length piece on his website. Diallo enrolled at the school to play for John Calipari in January but opted not to join the basketball team. He, like all prospects, has until tonight to make a decision.

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

George Package May Not Yield Lottery Pick

May 19th, 2017 at 4:57pm CST by Austin Kent
  • The Pacers will work out Bryce Alford, Ike Anigbogu, Trevon Bluiett, Vince Edwards, Davon Reed and Trevor Thompson on Monday, the team announced on its official website.
  • The Lakers aren’t likely to give up a lottery pick for a one-year Paul George rental, says Sam Smith of the Bulls official website, but the Pacers could potentially net Julius Randle, D’Angelo Russell and a matching salary should they decide to pull the trigger. Smith adds that Larry Bird‘s exit indicates that the franchise is eager to fully embrace a rebuild.
Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0

Lottery Implications For Pacers; Thornwell A Draft Target?

May 19th, 2017 at 12:36pm CST by Luke Adams
  • This week’s draft lottery didn’t include the Pacers, but it might have interesting ramifications for the team, writes Nate Taylor of The Indianapolis Star. Taylor notes that the top three teams in the 2017 NBA draft – the Celtics, Lakers, and Sixers – all made inquiries on Paul George prior to February’s trade deadline and could check in again on the star forward this summer.
  • In the wake of his workout this week with the Pacers, Sindarius Thornwell spoke to Nate Taylor, who suggests in a separate piece for The Star that the South Carolina combo guard could be a second-round target for Indiana.
Retweet 3 Share 0 Send via email0

Hawks Made Strong Push For Paul George At Trade Deadline

May 18th, 2017 at 11:58pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Hawks presented the Pacers with an offer that included four first-round picks in exchange for Paul George at this season’s trade deadline, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reports. The scribe adds that multiple teams reached out to Indiana in an attempt to add the four-time All-Star.

Earlier today, the NBA announced it All-NBA teams and since George did not earn the honor of being named to one, he will not be eligible to sign a designated player extension this summer. He has two seasons left on his current deal, though he can opt to become a free agent next offseason.

The Lakers are confident they can sign George next summer, though the chances of him coming to L.A. could decrease if he’s dealt to a winning team. George told Indiana’s new team president Kevin Pritchard that he could see himself having a long-term future with the Pacers, but only if they are contenders. A team like Atlanta is arguably closer to contending than Indiana is.

The Hawks have all their future draft picks and they own Cleveland’s 2019 first-round selection as a result of the Kyle Korver deal and Minnesota’s 2018 selection via the Adreian Payne trade. With those extra picks in hand, Atlanta could’ve offered various combinations while still adhering to the Ted Stepien rule, which prevents teams from shedding consecutive future first-round picks.

Retweet 14 Share 0 Send via email0

Lakers Confident They Can Sign Paul George?

May 18th, 2017 at 5:26pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Lakers landed the No. 2 overall pick in this year’s lottery and it brought speculation that the team could send it to Indiana for Paul George. However, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (video link) hears that George would prefer the Lakers to keep their assets since it would allow them to be a better team come next summer when George can be a free agent.

Wojnarowski added that the Lakers are confident that they can sign George and the team is being encouraged not to make a trade for him. It’s unclear exactly who is feeding Los Angeles this information, but it sounds as if someone from George’s camp reached out to the team.

George did not make an All-NBA team this season, meaning he is not eligible for the new designated player extension. He could earn that super max deal with the Pacers should he make an All-NBA team next year, something that would give Indiana an advantage in keeping him on the squad. The awards aren’t announced until after the season, which would leave the team with less than two months to negotiate a new deal since George is likely to opt out of his current deal next July.

New team president Kevin Pritchard may not want to wait and risk losing the organization’s best player for nothing, so a trade with the Lakers or another team remains a possibility. The franchise still has the ability to offer George more years and money than any rival team, though the advantage isn’t as significant as it would be with the designated player extension as an option.

Retweet 23 Share 0 Send via email0

No Paul George, Gordon Hayward On All-NBA Teams

May 18th, 2017 at 1:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA has officially announced its All-NBA teams for the 2016/17 season, and neither Paul George nor Gordon Hayward is among the 15 players honored. That’s big news for both players and their teams, since they’ll be ineligible for the Designated Veteran Extension, reducing the amount of money the Pacers and Jazz – respectively – could offer their star forwards in contract extensions this offseason.

Here are this year’s All-NBA teams:

All-NBA First Team

All-NBA Second Team

All-NBA Third Team

Based on this year’s All-NBA voting results, Wall is now eligible to sign a Designated Veteran Extension this summer, while Leonard is eligible to sign one next summer. Harden, Westbrook, and Curry are also eligible to sign DVEs this summer, as Bobby Marks of The Vertical notes (via Twitter).

Those Designated Veteran Extensions – which are dependent on a player making an All-NBA team in the year before he signs an extension, or in two of the previous three years – apply to players finishing up their rookie scale extensions. They allow a player re-signing with his own team to earn up to 35% of the salary cap, rather than just 30%. So, if we assume a $101MM salary cap for 2017/18, a player like Curry could sign a new Warriors contract with a starting salary of $35.35MM, instead of $30.3MM.

The Pacers and Jazz will still be able to offer George and Hayward larger and longer contracts than any other team, but the advantage won’t be as significant as it would have been if those players had earned All-NBA spots. Teams can offer their own Bird-rights free agents up to five years (instead of four) and 8% raises (instead of 5%).

Hayward figures to opt out of his contract and become a free agent this summer, while George is expected to reach free agency in 2018. George could still become eligible for the DVE in ’18 if the Pacers hang onto him through next season and he earns All-NBA honors a year from now. However, there’s no guarantee that Indiana will be willing to take that risk.

As for the rest of the All-NBA votes, there weren’t any major surprises, particularly on the first two teams. Perhaps the biggest surprise, in a year which was dominated by four clear-cut MVP candidates, is that Harden was the only player who received 100 out of 100 possible First Team votes. Westbrook and James received 99 apiece, while Leonard received 96.

Note: Hoops Rumors readers voted last month on All-NBA teams, and our squads looked awfully close to the official ones, with a couple notable exceptions. You can check out the results of our voting right here.

Retweet 5 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts