Several Teams Interested In Chase Budinger
9:44am: There is strong mutual interest between Budinger and the Bucks, tweets Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times.
12:48am: As expected, Flip Saunders and a Timberwolves contingent is meeting with free agent wing Chase Budinger in San Diego, as Sean Deveney of the Sporting News tweets. However, the Wolves aren't the only team interested in signing Budinger.
According to Sam Amick of USA Today (via Twitter), the Pelicans, Bucks, Pacers, and Mavericks all have some level of interest in Budinger. Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News adds the Lakers to that list of potential suitors (Twitter link), though Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times hears that Budinger will likely receive more than the $3.18MM mini mid-level that the Lakers can offer (Twitter link).
Budinger, 25, missed most of the 2012/13 season with a knee injury, but provides excellent outside shooting when healthy.
Odds & Ends: Delfino, Knicks, Redick, West
The Knicks have an interest in Carlos Delfino and Aaron Brooks, who were waived by the Rockets earlier today, tweets Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Brooks also has interest (Twitter links) in signing with New York and it helps that he is represented by CAA, the same company that represents J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony. Here’s more from around the Association..
- It’s appearing less and less likely that J.J. Redick will return to the Bucks in free agency, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
- The Pacers‘ top priority in free agency remains re-signing David West, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Sources say that a meeting is expected soon, if not tonight, then tomorrow.
- Andrei Kirilenko is a free agent again, but Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune (on Twitter) cautions that AK is not a fit for the Jazz right now based on the dollars and years it would take to sign him.
- The frontrunners for Gigi Datome are the Celtics and Grizzlies, according to an Italian report passed along by Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The small forward was named Serie A Regular Season MVP and ended the year averaging 16.4 PPG, 4.3 RPG, and 1.7 APG in 48 games.
Pacers, Bucks, Knicks Eyeing Tony Allen
The Grizzlies will meet with Tony Allen soon in an attempt to keep the unrestricted free agent from the Pacers, Bucks and Knicks, who are in pursuit, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Clippers coach Doc Rivers, in charge of the team's front office, would love to work with Allen again after doing so when they were both Celtics, but it's not clear how competitive an offer from L.A. would be, Wojnarowski adds (Twitter link).
Allen was a member of the All-Defensive First Team this season, and has built a reputation as one of the most fearsome perimeter defenders in the league. The 31-year-old has only averaged double figures in scoring once during his nine-year career, and his 26.7 minutes per game this past season were a career high. Still, his teams have traditionally been among the best in the NBA, and some of the hardest to score against.
The Raymond Brothers client has said he believes he'll remain in Memphis, but understands that the Grizzlies may not come up with enough money to keep him. Allen made $3.3MM in 2012/13, but when I examined his free agent stock in April, I thought he would probably merit offers with a starting salary around $5.15MM, the value of the mid-level exception. That would put the taxpaying Knicks out of the running, unless they can clear a hefty amount of salary from their books. A report last month indicated the Cavs were also interested in Allen, and they, like the rest of the teams said to be chasing Allen, have greater flexibility.
Odds & Ends: Brown, Granger, Brooks, Cavs
It's been a relatively quiet post-draft night around the NBA, but such inactivity won't last long. Teams can negotiate with free agents from other clubs starting Monday, and we'll likely find out the destinations for most of the top available talent in the week ahead. Here's what we know now:
- Spurs assistant Brett Brown is a candidate for both of the league's remaining head coaching vacancies, but while the Sixers have strong interest in hiring him, Brown is "extremely" interested in the Celtics job, a source tells Baxter Holmes of the Boston Globe.
- Before Larry Bird returned this week as Pacers president of basketball ops, the team appeared to favor keeping Danny Granger rather than trading him this summer. Bird is on board with that plan, notes Bob Kravitz of the Indianapolis Star.
- The Nets tried to trade MarShon Brooks during the draft for a second-round pick, but when they found no one willing to do such a deal, they substituted him for Reggie Evans in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce blockbuster, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.
- The Cavaliers are looking for a center, small forward and backup point guard, and they're willing to swing a trade to fill those needs, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
- The Rockets timed renovations to their home arena to coincide with free agency, so potential players could see the franchise's upgrades in action, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle details.
- Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News speculates on potential trade targets for the Pistons, who've had Wilson Chandler of the Nuggets "on their radar" for a while, Goodwill writes.
- Keith Schlosser of Ridiculous Upside identifies five players left undrafted Thursday whose chances of making the NBA could benefit from a D-League stint.
- Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer figures the kind of deal Brandon Jennings gets in restricted free agency this year could set the bar for Kemba Walker, whose rookie-scale contract with the Bobcats is up in 2015 (Twitter link).
Western Rumors: Mo Williams, Mavs, Harris
There's a major shakeup going on in the Eastern Conference now that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are on their way to Brooklyn. An even more resounding move could happen in the West, where Dwight Howard's primary suitors are. We've got more on that storyline and others from the Western Conference:
- Mo Williams is expected to discuss re-signing in Utah with Jazz brass, but a source tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that Williams isn't interested in returning if he's not the starter. Last night, the Jazz wound up with point guard Trey Burke in the draft, and he has eyes on the starting job, too, notes Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. (Twitter link).
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tells Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News that he has a couple of meetings with players scheduled to take place in Los Angeles, presumably referring to Howard and Chris Paul. Still, those two big fishes aren't the team's sole focus, as Cuban also says the Mavs were in discussions yesterday about a deal that would have prevented the team from making a maximum-salary signing this summer.
- Devin Harris dropped hints Friday about returning to the Mavericks, where he began his career, as Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News observes. "It’s always crossed my mind," Harris said. "It’s crossed my mind since I left. Obviously, I think it would be cool to come back. But I also like it in Atlanta. It comes down to what best fits me."
- Howard won't necessarily make the Lakers the last stop on his listening tour as he fields free agent pitches this summer, even though the purple and gold brass would like to see that happen, tweets Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News.
- The Lakers are declining the chance to tender Darius Morris a $1.2MM qualifying offer, but the team has interest in re-signing him to a deal worth less than that, writes Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times. Andrew Goudelock may return as well, but Devin Ebanks won't be back, Pincus adds in a look at the team's would-be restricted free agents.
- Brian Scalabrine is talking with the Warriors about joining the team as an assistant coach, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
- The Spurs officially announced their hiring of Pacers assistant coach Jim Boylen as an assistant on Gregg Popovich's staff. Boylen is not to be confused with Cavs assistant Jim Boylan.
Celtics To Acquire Colton Iverson
After being selected 53rd overall by the Pacers, Colton Iverson will be sent to the Celtics in exchange for cash, reports Andy Katz of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
On a night when they appear to have agreed to a much larger deal, the Celtics added a pair of bigs in Iverson and Gonzaga's Kelly Olynyk.
For tonight's for draft results, click here.
Odds & Ends: KG, Pierce, D12, McMillan, Kanter
Draft rumors are dominating headlines today, but there are a few other stories and links we don't want to let slip through the cracks. Let's round them up….
- As talks between the Celtics and Nets progress, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the C's also raised the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce package to a Western Conference team, but few, if any, other clubs would go all-in like the Nets.
- Perhaps that Western Conference team was the Timberwolves? Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities hears that Garnett's name, at least, has come up in Minnesota (Twitter link).
- The Warriors are hoping to meet with Dwight Howard in free agency, and D12 figures to give them an audience, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
- Nate McMillan is finalizing an agreement to become the top assistant on Frank Vogel's Pacers staff, tweets Wojnarowski.
- Enes Kanter will not be traded tonight, tweets Bill Oram of the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News gives the Mavericks a 28% chance of landing Howard this summer, and thinks Andrew Bynum and Monta Ellis could be among the team's backup plans.
- Ty Lawson and Brian Shaw met to discuss the Nuggets' future, as Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post details.
Berger On Knicks, Spurs, Plumlee, Hawks, C’s
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com is passing along a number of draft-night updates via Twitter, so let's dive in and check out the latest from him….
- The Knicks figure to keep their first-round pick and will likely target the best available shooting guard at No. 24. Berger suggests Jamaal Franklin or Allen Crabbe.
- With the Spurs hoping to get younger and more athletic, teams view Tony Mitchell and Lucas Nogueira as possibilities for San Antonio at No. 28.
Earlier updates:
- Mason Plumlee is a "strong possibility" for the Hawks at No. 17 or 18, according to Berger. The team's other pick would likely be a draft-and-stash international player.
- Jamaal Franklin has drawn interest from the Hawks, Bulls, Knicks, and Clippers.
- Berger says that NBA teams are eager to see what the Celtics do at No. 16. If Boston drafts a point guard, it could be an indication that the club is open to trading Rajon Rondo as part of its rebuild.
- On the other hand, if the Celtics intend to rebuild around Rondo, rival teams believe Reggie Bullock is a likely target for the C's at No. 16.
- The Pacers (No. 23), Clippers (25), Wolves (26), and Nuggets (27) are teams who could end up moving their first-round picks.
Draft Notes: Cavs, Kings, McLemore, Karasev
Here's the latest news as we get set for the Draft to get underway from the Barclays Center..
- The Cavs haven't found a taker for the No. 1 pick yet, but it's not for a lack of trying. One source tells Ric Bucher of 95.7 The Game (via Twitter) that they still haven't given up on finding a trade.
- The Kings have been aggressive in trying to move up from No. 7 in the draft, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Their likely target is Kansas guard Ben McLemore.
- The Kings could find a partner in the Suns who pick at No. 5 and are looking to drop back, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
- Sergey Karasev left private interviews in Russia confident that he'll be in the top 15 and hope that he'll be a top ten pick, a league source told Shams Charania of RealGM. Discussions with several teams continued even after the interviews and the Bucks’ apparent interest has fueled belief that the 19-year-old won’t last beyond No. 15.
- The Knicks remain enamored with German guard Dennis Schroeder at No. 24 but they understand that he's unlikely to slip to them, Wojnarowski tweets. The Jazz like Schroeder (14, 21) and there's little chance that the Nets (22) and Pacers (23) let him reach the Knicks (link).
- Teams are getting a clear message from the Wizards: they do not want to part with their No. 3 pick, tweets Berger.
- More from Berger (link), who tweets that Miami guard Shane Larkin has attracted the interest of the Jazz at No. 14 and Milwaukee at No. 15.
- After two workouts, N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie shut it down with teams and he's expected to be selected in the 30s, tweets Wojnarowski.
Pacific Notes: Lakers, Clippers, Howard, Bledsoe
Here's the latest out of the Pacific Division, which may or may not include Dwight Howard next season..
- The Lakers will be the final team to meet with Howard, who will start visiting other clubs next week, writes Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times. The big man will first meet with the Hawks, Rockets, and Mavericks and the list could grow beyond that. The Lakers have not yet been informed of the time or place of the pow-wow with Howard.
- Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (on Twitter) has no doubt that D12 would re-sign if Jackson was the coach or running things in L.A. The idea that the Lakers' pull alone isn't enough to sway Howard is a troubling sign for future free agents.
- However, Markazi (link) isn't convinced that a coaching change alone would be enough to keep Howard in L.A. He notes that Howard pushed Stan Van Gundy and GM Otis Smith out of Orlando before leaving.
- The general feeling around the Clippers is that they won't trade guard Eric Bledsoe today, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com. With Doc Rivers having just arrived, he probably wants to take some time to assess things before making major changes. We heard during the Celtics-Clippers talks that Rivers didn't want Bledsoe traded to Boston because he wanted to coach him in Los Angeles.
- Mark Medina and Brian Martin of the L.A. Daily News looks at possible candidates for the Lakers in tonight's draft. DeShaun Thomas and Kenny Kadji are among the players highlighted.
- Even though Larry Bird has been high on Jimmer Fredette in the past, Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio (via Twitter) isn't so sure that there's a match for the Kings and Pacers now.