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Mutual Interest Between Anthony Tolliver, Hawks

August 27th, 2012 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Anthony Tolliver is still looking for a team to play for in 2012/13, and it appears four options have emerged as potential destinations. Tolliver tells Chris Tomasson of FOX Sports Florida (Sulia link) that the Hawks, Wizards, Pacers, and Timberwolves are the teams still in "constant contact" with him.

We've heard plenty of rumors over the last month connecting Tolliver to the Wizards and T-Wolves, and the Pacers have been mentioned as a possible suitor as well. The Hawks have only been mentioned in passing a potential fit to date, but Tolliver singled out Atlanta in his conversation with Tomasson (Sulia link), noting that he's intrigued by the possible match: "I don’t think they have a guy on their roster with that skill set with shooting and versatility."

According to Tomasson, the Hawks have "great interest" in Tolliver, who has some history with members of the team's front office — when the forward cracked Cleveland's roster as an undrafted rookie in 2007, current Hawks GM Danny Ferry and assistant GM Wes Wilcox were both with the Cavs.

Still, despite apparent mutual interest between the two sides, Tolliver's agent Larry Fox suggested earlier this month that he doesn't expect his client to sign for a minimum salary. The Hawks are over the cap and have used their full mid-level exception, so if they want to offer more than the minimum, they'd have to use their $1.957MM bi-annual exception.

Possible Fits For Leandro Barbosa

August 21st, 2012 at 1:35pm CST by Luke Adams

The number of household names on our list of 2012/13 free agents continues to dwindle, but there are still a handful of intriguing veterans out there, including Josh Howard, Kenyon Martin, and Anthony Tolliver, among others. One notable free agent still seeking a new contract is combo guard Leandro Barbosa. We've heard plenty of rumors involving the 29-year-old, but with September approaching, he remains unsigned.

Barbosa is coming off a five-year, $33MM contract and is still productive, so he's unlikely to accept a minimum-salary deal. And while he has the ability to play both guard positions, he's definitely a scorer first rather than a facilitator, which wouldn't be a fit for some teams. So what clubs could offer a moderate salary to Barbosa and could use a scorer off the bench? Let's run through a few possibilities….

Denver Nuggets ($3.33MM of mid-level exception available)
Denver hasn't been linked to Barbosa at all this summer, but I like the fit on paper — while the Nuggets have 15 contracts on their books, Julyan Stone's minimum-salary deal isn't guaranteed, so the team could clear a spot if it wanted to. Andre Iguodala figures to start at the two, with Corey Brewer backing him up, but neither player is a particularly strong outside shooter. Only Evan Fournier fills that role, and it might be a mistake to expect too much out of a rookie that was initially expected to continue playing overseas for a year or two before joining the Nuggets. Barbosa could provide outside scoring and act as an emergency backup at the point behind Ty Lawson and Andre Miller.

Phoenix Suns ($8MM+ in cap space, $2.575MM room exception available)
Barbosa has spent most of his career in Phoenix and the Suns certainly have the necessary money and roster space. They've also been rumored to have a little interest. With Wesley Johnson and Shannon Brown penciled in at shooting guard, the Suns could use one more reliable veteran at the position, but the team may value its cap flexibility more than the scoring Barbosa could provide.

Indiana Pacers ($2.575MM room exception available)
The Pacers had to renounce Barbosa to make their other roster moves this offseason, so they don't retain any form of his Bird rights. But Indiana does have its room exception, so if there's any interest in a reunion, the team could probably make a competitive offer. Still, the Pacers' need isn't glaring, and Barbosa didn't exactly thrive after Indiana acquired him at the trade deadline — his .399 FG% would have been a career-worst over a full season, and his mark in the playoffs (37%) was even lower.

Milwaukee Bucks ($4.35MM of mid-level exception remaining)
The Bucks' two marquee players, Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis, are guards, but the team's backcourt depth doesn't extend a whole lot further. Doron Lamb and Beno Udrih are the only other guards on the roster. The Bucks would probably prefer to add at least one more player to the backcourt by trading one of their many big men, but if they can't find a deal, a free agent signing may be necessary. The Bucks actually strikes me as a solid fit for Barbosa, given the money they could offer, paired with the team's on-court need. But Milwaukee isn't the most desirable destination for free agents, so even if the club is interested, we'll have to see if Barbosa would seriously consider signing there.

Detroit Pistons ($2.5MM of mid-level exception available)
As we heard yesterday, Joe Dumars is still looking to bolster the Pistons' backcourt, but it seems he's focusing on trades for now, rather than free agents. Considering Detroit already has 15 players on guaranteed contracts, it seems unlikely the team would ditch one of its current guys for a non-essential piece like Barbosa. However, if no trades are out there, it remains an outside possibility.

Cleveland Cavaliers ($11MM+ of cap space, $2.575MM room exception available)
Barbosa hinted earlier this summer that he wouldn't mind hearing from the Cavs, and it's not hard to see why — Cleveland is one of the only clubs with the space to offer him the $7.6MM salary he made last year. Of course, the Cavs aren't about to make such an offer, and with Alonzo Gee seemingly on his way back to Cleveland, the team may be close to finishing its free agent spending.

If Barbosa is open to accepting a minimum-salary contract, or perhaps the bi-annual exception, which would pay him a little less than $2MM annually, we could add plenty more potential suitors to this list. But based on reports to date, it doesn't seem like he's ready to settle just yet. It wouldn't surprise me if we heard rumors linking him to a couple more of the clubs in this post before he eventually signs a new deal.

Odds & Ends: Lakers, Green, Celtics, Hornets

August 20th, 2012 at 10:05pm CST by Zachary Links

In tonight's column, Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld wonders what the future will hold for the Lakers, who appear to be going all-in for the short-term with their current roster. Assuming the Lakers sign Dwight Howard to a new deal and have him under contract for 2014, they'll likely have to ask Kobe Bryant to take a pay cut in order to keep the core together. Some may be wondering if the new Collective Bargaining Agreement is going to do anything to prevent supercharged teams from forming in desirable markets, but Ingram notes that the tax penalties for clubs in two years will make teams think twice about having a $100MM payroll. Here's more from around the Association..

Gerald Green has found his way back in the league after GMs around the league all but gave up on him three years ago, writes Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. Green's path took him to Russia, China, and the D-League before hooking on with the Nets last season. The forward's 12.9 PPG in 31 games for the Nets last season led to him inking a three-year, $10MM deal in July with the Pacers.
The Celtics have hired Jay Larranaga as an assistant coach, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter). Larranaga previously served as the head coach of Erie BayHawks of the D-League.
Hornets Coach Monty Williams says that shortly after Tom Benson took over the club, Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis told him he that would be around for awhile, writes John Reid of The Times Picayune. Williams and the Hornets agreed to a four-year extension over the weekend that will keep him in New Orleans through 2016.
The Cavs announced that they have promoted Mike Gansey to director of development league operations, according to the Associated Press. In his new role, Gansey will work closely with Cavs vice president David Griffin and Canton Charge (NBA D-League) coach Alex Jensen on personnel matters.

Rockets Sign Carlos Delfino

August 20th, 2012 at 1:32pm CST by Chuck Myron

AUGUST 20TH, 1:32pm: The Rockets have officially signed Delfino, the team announced today in a press release.

AUGUST 15TH, 2:57pm: Delfino's deal with the Rockets is worth $3MM in year one, with a second-year option also worth $3MM, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter links). Since that amount exceeds the $2.575MM room exception, Houston is using leftover cap space to complete the deal.

The team has reportedly waived Josh Harrellson to clear a spot for Delfino, so the signing should become official any time now.

AUGUST 13TH, 7:29pm: The Rockets have agreed to a two-year deal with swingman Carlos Delfino that includes a team option for 2013-14, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. It's unclear how much the contract is worth, but it's likely for more than the minimum salary, as last week's reports suggested. The Rockets have their $2.575MM room exception available, so the deal could be for all or most of that amount, but that's just my speculation.

Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported Thursday that the Rockets were "actively chasing" Delfino, who said he would sign with a team after the Olympics. The Celtics, Hawks, Pacers and Cavaliers were all reportedly in the running for Delfino at times this summer. The 6'6" Argentinian seemingly had his heart set on a multiyear deal, so the two-year pact with the Rockets offers a compromise of sorts, giving the team an out after this season.

Delfino, who spent the last three seasons with the Bucks, saw his role in the offense diminish last year after two straight seasons of double-figure scoring. His points per game went from 11.5 in 2010/11 to 9.0 in 2011/12, as his shots were cut from 10.5 a game to 8.4. Delfino played with an injured groin the last month of the season that required surgery in May, and was disappointed the Bucks didn't show more interest in re-signing him after he played hurt for them. The Bucks held his Bird rights, so they would have had no trouble bringing him back if they had interest. Milwaukee originally brought him aboard for three years and $10.5MM on a sign-and-trade from the Raptors in 2009.

The addition of Delfino gives the Rockets 21 players on the roster, Zach Lowe of SI.com notes via Twitter. That would seem to make them prime candidates to pull off a trade sometime between now and the start of the season.

Odds & Ends: Harden, Hornets, James, Olympics

August 19th, 2012 at 7:53pm CST by Zachary Links

Sad news today as former NBA Deputy Commissioner and Players Association executive director Simon Gourdine passed away at the age of 72. As deputy commissioner in 1976, Gourdine was instrumental in helping to facilitate the merger of the NBA and ABA, which brought the Nets, Pacers, Spurs, and Nuggets over to the Association. Here's more from around the league on this Sunday evening..

If Eric Gordon is a max player, and Brook Lopez is a max player, reigning Sixth Man of the Year James Harden is certainly a max player, opines Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops. After signing Serge Ibaka to a four-year, $48MM contract extension, the Thunder will have to get creative if they hope to hang on to Harden. Of course, Oklahoma City may opt to trade the super sub to avoid the possibility of having to match a lucrative backloaded offer sheet down the line.
The Hornets have gone to great lengths to revamp their club this summer and Jim Eichenhofer of Hornets.com runs down the newest additions to the hive. Eichenhofer notes that the recently-acquired Hakim Warrick may have to shift from power forward to small forward in order to see time in New Orleans.
It may be four years away, but LeBron James already says that he hopes to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio, according to the Associated Press. James joked that he has "done the math" and is well aware that he will be 31-years-old during those games. Of course, James could only play if there isn't an under-23 age limit applied for USA Basketball starting in 2016.

Latest On Greg Oden

August 15th, 2012 at 8:24am CST by Luke Adams

Within the last few months, multiple reports have suggested Greg Oden is considering returning to the NBA for the 2012/13 season, and would like the opportunity to play for the Heat. However, talking recently to David Hughes of the Tribune-Star, Oden downplayed his chances of making his NBA return this season.

"I would love to play [in 2012/13], but I’m not going to rush anything," Oden said. "I need to take a year off. What I told [agent] Mike [Conley] was 'Look, I want to get back with a team. I want to play. If there’s a chance that later on in the [NBA] year, if I feel good or if I’m healthy enough to play, I would love to play this year.' That’s the conversation we had. I think some people kinda blew that up and took his words and kinda changed them around. I know I need to get healthy first before I do anything."

According to Oden, teams haven't exactly been burning up his phone line expressing interest in signing him, considering he's still recovering. The former first overall pick added that he doesn't have one specific team in mind as a destination: "I want to go to a place where I can get healthy and with somebody who can believe in me and my skills — somewhere it could be a good fit for the both of us."

One general manager that spoke to Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (Sulia link) considers teams like the Spurs, Pacers, and Magic as the eventual favorites to sign Oden, but cautions that that's just his specuation. Amico also hears from a GM (it's unclear whether it's the same one) that teams with cap space, like the Suns or Cavs, could take a flier on Oden toward the end of the season, though the GM thinks it would have to be a minimum-salary contract.

Central Rumors: Bucks, Villanueva, Pacers

August 13th, 2012 at 10:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Carlos Delfino agreed to sign with the Rockets tonight, and it's no surprise he's leaving the Bucks, who never made a push to retain their incumbent starting small forward. His departure opens up minutes at the three for Luc Mbah a Moute and Mike Dunleavy and gives 2011 19th overall pick Tobias Harris a chance to crack the rotation, tweets Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. We've got more on the Bucks and their Central Division rivals here:

John Hollinger of ESPN.com wonders if the Bucks will try to turn Delfino's deal with the Rockets into a sign-and-trade, which would create a trade exception for Milwaukee (Twitter link). The Bucks, who hold Houston's 2014 second-round pick, could entice the rebuilding Rockets by offering it back to them, while the Bucks could take back one of the 21 players Houston is slated to bring to training camp. There would have to be a third season tacked on to Delfino's two-year deal per sign-and-trade rules, but that wouldn't be hard for the Rockets to do if they made it a non-guaranteed year, Hollinger tweets.
The Pistons may look to move Charlie Villanueva or Austin Daye to free up roster space for Ben Wallace to return to the team, Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News writes. The team could also use Villanueva as a trade chip next summer, when he'll be entering the final season of his five-year, $37.7MM deal, but the 6'11" power forward is determined to prove he's worth keeping around.
The Indianapolis Capitol Improvement Board and the Pacers are in the early stages of negotiations on a new deal to provide money for the day-to-day operations of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but the board's approval of a new budget that doesn't specify any payment to the Pacers complicates the issue, as Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star writes.
Former Pacers guard Leandro Barbosa is still looking for a job, but Stephen Brotherston of HoopsWorld argues that he'll be a valuable addition where ever he winds up.
The Bulls aren't bringing back Brian Scalabrine next year, but the 11-year veteran refuses to end his unlikely NBA career, as Sam Smith of Bulls.com chronicles. He has an offer from a team in Europe, and the Celtics want him to do some TV work, but Scalabrine is holding out for one more chance to play in the NBA.

Free Agent Spending By Division: Central

August 13th, 2012 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

Our look at 2012 free agent spending by division continues with the Central, after we used Hoops Rumors' Free Agent Tracker to examine the Southeast last week.

Once again, these figures only take into account free agent signings, so salary absorbed in trades or money used to sign draft picks isn't included in this list. Additionally, not all of this salary is necessarily guaranteed, which we'll try to note as we go along. Here are this summer's Central Division free agent costs, sorted by player salary:

Indiana Pacers: $128.366MM (D.J. Augustin, Gerald Green, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, Ian Mahinmi)
For a team that values cap flexibility and small, safe deals, the Pacers committed a huge amount of money to free agency this offseason. Of course, a significant chunk of that money went to Hibbert (four years, $58MM+) and Hill (five years, $40MM), but the team's other signings weren't insignificant. Green and Mahinmi both received eight-figure guarantees, while Augustin will earn $3.5MM for one year. With no minimum salaries or partial guarantees in the bunch, the Pacers easily rank among this summer's top spenders in any division.

Milwaukee Bucks: $41.352MM (Ersan Ilyasova, Joel Przybilla)
The Bucks haven't exactly been active on the free agent market, but Ilyasova's deal alone counts for $40MM, one of nine contracts this summer worth $40MM or more. Przybilla, meanwhile, will earn $1,352,181, but since it's a minimum-salary deal, the Bucks will only be on the hook for $854,389 of it.

Chicago Bulls: $13.808MM (Marco Belinelli, Kirk Hinrich, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic, Nate Robinson)
Having lost Omer Asik, Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Watson, Kyle Korver, and John Lucas III, the Bulls were tasked with rebuilding their bench, and did so on the cheap. Mohammed, Radmanovic, and Robinson are all on one-year, minimum-salary contracts, while Hinrich will earn a portion of the mid-level and Belinelli will make the bi-annual exception. The big expenditure here is Hinrich, whose $8MM over two years appears to be fully guaranteed.

Cleveland Cavaliers: $7.682MM (C.J. Miles, Luke Harangody, Michael Eric)
Despite having a huge portion of cap space available, the Cavs have been fairly quiet in free agency. Miles' two-year, $4MM deal is believed to include a team option for year two, while Eric's deal includes only a partial guarantee on year one, along with two non-guaranteed seasons. While the three players could earn up to a combined $7.682MM if they're retained for the duration of their contracts, the Cavs are currently only on the hook for something in the neighborhood of $3.5MM.

Detroit Pistons: $4.875MM (Vyacheslav Kravtsov)
Most of the Pistons' summer spending has come by way of contracts for draft picks (Andre Drummond, Kyle Singler, and Kim English), but they did make one free agent signing, inking Kravtsov to a three-year deal. The contract will pay the Ukranian big man $1.5MM in each of the next two seasons, with a $1.875MM player option for 2014/15.

Knicks, Bulls, Pacers Interested In Greene

August 7th, 2012 at 9:22am CST by Zachary Links

Free agent forward Donte Greene says that the Knicks, Pacers, and Bulls now make up his “top three” list of potential destinations. In an interview with internet radio show TheCDNetworks.com (hat tip to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com) the former Kings big man explained that while he is open to other possibilities, those three clubs are the ones that he is working to get a deal done with.

Greene, 24, averaged 5.4 PPG and 2.5 RPG in just under 15 minutes per contest last season. While the Syracuse product has only suited up for the Kings, he was involved in two trades prior to his first NBA game. Shortly after being drafted by the Grizzlies, Greene was sent to the Rockets as a part of a three-team deal. In August, Houston sent Greene to the Kings in a package to land Metta World Peace.

A little over two weeks ago, Greene said that he hoped to sign with Chicago, but the two sides have yet to hammer out an agreement. The 6’11” forward became an unrestricted free agent on June 27th when the Kings declined to extend him a qualifying offer.

Odds & Ends: Pacers, Stoudemire, Williams

August 5th, 2012 at 12:29pm CST by Daniel Seco

Happy birthday to Knicks legend Patrick Ewing as he turns 50 today. New York has won exactly one playoff game (2012 against the Heat) since the Hoya Destroya's 38th birthday. Here's the latest news and headlines from around the league…

With an eye on building stronger team chemistry, the Pacers will be getting together for a workout later this month in Los Angeles, tweets Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. They'll meet up again three weeks before training camp to do the same thing.
Amare Stoudemire begins training today in Houston with Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon to work on his game, says Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter). The value of working with Olajuwon can be seen in the play of Kobe Bryant and LeBron James, who have had the opportunity to work with the big man in the past.
Timberwolves forward Derrick Williams has done all the right things this summer by losing 15 pounds and playing relatively well during the NBA Summer League, but Minnesota isn't convinced that the former Arizona star can effectively play small forward this season, writes Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov believes his investment in the organization has at least doubled since he purchased a majority stake in the team in 2010, writes Daniel Massey of Crain's New York.