- James Ennis has received calls from the Pelicans, Mavericks, Clippers, Warriors and Hawks, according to Scott Kushner of The Advocate (Twitter link).
- With more than $60MM to spend, the Sixers are targeting guards as free agency begins, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. He names the Thunder’s Dion Waiters, the Clippers‘ Jamal Crawford and the Blazers‘ Allen Crabbe as players that Philadelphia has interest in.
A source involved in the Dwyane Wade situation tells Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald that the Heat have been unable to tell Wade exactly what they’re willing to pay him because their plans will largely depend on whether or not they land Hassan Whiteside and/or Kevin Durant. That has left Wade feeling frustrated, since he wants to be a priority for the team. Still, Jackson says it would be a surprise if the veteran guard ultimately ended up anywhere except Miami.
Here are several more rumors and updates left over from what has been a busy first few hours of free agency:
- The Lakers didn’t reach out to Al Horford when free agency began, but they do have interest in him, says Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. It’s not clear whether that interest has dwindled at all now that the team has agreed to terms with Timofey Mozgov.
- The Magic have expressed interest in Jeff Green, according to Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
- Dwight Howard has sit-downs lined up with four teams, with his Friday meetings happening in Atlanta and his Saturday meetings happening in Las Vegas, tweets ESPN’s Chris Broussard. We know Howard is meeting with Atlanta and Boston, but it’s not clear who his other two suitors are.
- Don’t be surprised if – and when – the Pistons go after Thomas Robinson, per David Mayo of MLive.com (Twitter link).
- Lance Thomas and Langston Galloway each received interest from a handful of teams as free agency got underway, with the Thunder, Timberwolves, Nets, and Hawks calling Thomas, according to Ian Begley of ESPN.com. The Knicks would like to re-sign both players.
- E’Twaun Moore will start hearing pitches on Friday and his free agency may move quickly, sources tell ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter link). The Bulls are viewed as the favorites to retain Moore.
- When he called free agent guard Jamal Crawford on Thursday night, Clippers coach Doc Rivers swore Crawford wouldn’t be going anywhere, per Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News has updates on a pair of free agent shooting guards, reporting (via Twitter) that the Sixers and Lakers have inquired tonight on DeMar DeRozan, who is meeting with the Raptors in Los Angeles. Toronto remains the strong favorite to re-sign DeRozan. Wolfson also tweets that Jamal Crawford has received calls tonight from the Sixers, Knicks, Clippers, Magic, and Heat.
Here’s more from across the NBA:
- In addition to reaching out to Crawford tonight, the Clippers also met with Austin Rivers in Orlando and Jeff Green in Miami, doing due diligence on their pending free agents, tweets Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. After meeting with the Clips, Rivers is expected to talk to the Knicks and possibly the Trail Blazers on Friday, per Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical (Twitter link).
- The Nets, Jazz, and Suns are among the teams in pursuit of Jared Dudley, with the Wizards also in the hunt to bring back the veteran sharpshooter, tweets ESPN’s Marc Stein. Utah had a meeting with Dudley tonight, according to Tony Jones of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
- League sources continue to tell Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) that the Kings may be preparing a “significant” offer for restricted free agent Dion Waiters. The Thunder would have the opportunity to match an offer sheet, but may not be aggressive in trying to retain Waiters now that they have Victor Oladipo.
- The Thunder were indeed among the teams to reach out to Al Horford tonight, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. A Thursday report indicated that Oklahoma City has its eye on Horford as part of its pitch to keep Kevin Durant.
- Speaking of Durant, during The Vertical’s free agency show tonight, Wojnarowski said that Jay-Z and Roc Nation tried to push Durant to take a free agent meeting with the Nets, but KD dismissed that idea (Twitter link via Anthony Puccio of NetsDaily).
Several teams have reached out to Luol Deng during the opening hours of free agency, according to multiple reports. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News (Twitter links) says the Timberwolves, Celtics, Heat, and Wizards all called on Deng tonight, while Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical adds the Jazz and Clippers to that list (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald).
Utah is expected to be “very aggressive” in its pursuit of Deng, per Wojnarowski. Meanwhile, Wolfson notes that Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Deng in Chicago, is expected to talk to the veteran free agent during the day tomorrow.
We heard back in May that Deng was expected to receive a two-year deal that paid at least $12MM annually, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his price has increased since then, with free-agent estimates around the league having been consistently creeping higher.
The Thunder are in a strong position to keep Kevin Durant as the final minutes tick away toward free agency, writes Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. An unidentified friend of Durant’s says the Oklahoma City star’s decision is “90% made” after a meeting today with GM Sam Presti and assistant GM Troy Weaver. But Durant will go through with his meetings in the Hamptons Friday with the Warriors and Clippers, followed by the Spurs and Celtics on Saturday and the Heat on Sunday. OKC is hoping for another session with Durant after those meetings are done.
Durant was apparently swayed by the Thunder’s status as contenders and the extra cash he can receive by staying put. Oklahoma City can offer a five-year deal at about $30.6MM annually, compared to four years for other franchises with an annual salary in the neighborhood of $28.4MM. If Durant takes a two-year deal with the Thunder and opts out after next season, he could push that annual salary to approximately $40.7MM. According to Spears, that will most likely be Durant’s decision.
Durant hopes to make up his mind “sooner rather than later” after the meetings are wrapped up, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Sources told Stein that today’s sit-down with the Thunder lasted five hours and “went well.”
Even so, the Warriors remain confident as they get their chance to talk to Durant, tweets Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders. Kennedy describes Durant as “intrigued” by the possibility of joining a team that just broke the regular season record for wins.
Durant likes the idea of joining forces with Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, writes Marcus Thompson of The San Jose Mercury News. A source told Thompson that if Durant signs with the Warriors, he would have a say in constructing the rest of the roster and in recruiting veterans to accept a discount for a chance at a title. One area of need could be a new center, as the Warriors have talked about trading current starter Andrew Bogut.
The Clippers will be one of the first teams to sit down with Kevin Durant on his free agent tour, with KD on track to meet with the Clippers and Warriors on Friday. And according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register and Ramona Shelburne and Arash Markazi of ESPN.com, the Clippers will attempt to sell Durant on a scenario that would see him playing alongside Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan in Los Angeles, creating a “big four.”
[RELATED: Kevin Durant’s schedule for FA meetings]
It has long been assumed that, if they were to land Durant, the Clippers would have to jettison one of their top three players for cap purposes. However, Los Angeles is exploring scenarios that would allow the team to keep Paul, Griffin, and Jordan, while adding Durant. Per ESPN’s report, all three players have been invited to the Clips’ meeting with Durant in The Hamptons, which will be led by owner Steve Ballmer and coach Doc Rivers.
Selling Durant on such a scenario may not be easy, and it won’t be simple to actually execute either. Even if the Clippers were able to trade J.J. Redick, Paul Pierce, C.J. Wilcox, and the rights to Brice Johnson without taking any salary back, and renounced all their pending free agents, the team wouldn’t have enough cap room to offer Durant a maximum-salary contract. By my count, Durant would have to start at around $23.5MM in that scenario, and the Clippers would be left with only the $2.898MM room exception – and minimum-salary deals – to fill out their roster around their “big four.” A max salary for Durant is expected to start at approximately $26.6MM.
As the Clippers prepare their pitch to Durant, the Thunder’s brass is meeting with the former MVP today. However, since teams aren’t permitted to discuss contract parameters prior to July 1st, Oklahoma City is seeking a second meeting with Durant in The Hamptons next week, according to ESPN’s Marc Stein (Twitter links). Those contract discussions likely wouldn’t take long – there’s little doubt the Thunder would offer a full, five-year max – but a second meeting would allow the team to get the final word after Durant has heard pitches from all his other suitors.
THURSDAY, 7:10am: Stein fills in the rest Durant’s schedule, tweeting that he’ll meet with the Clippers on Friday and the Celtics on Saturday. So KD’s full lineup of meetings will look like this:
- June 30th: Thunder
- July 1st: Warriors and Clippers
- July 2nd: Spurs and Celtics
- July 3rd: Heat
WEDNESDAY, 11:17am: Durant’s meeting with the Heat will occur on Sunday, according to an ESPN.com report from Broussard and Stein.
11:00am: Kevin Durant‘s schedule for the next several days is beginning to take shape, with a handful of reporters filling in the details on the star forward’s free agent tour. According to ESPN’s Chris Broussard (via Twitter), Durant will have his first meeting with his current team, sitting down with the Thunder in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
Once free agency officially begins on Friday, Durant will head to the Hamptons in New York for the rest of his meetings, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical. Per Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Durant will meet with the Warriors on Friday afternoon in the Hamptons. Meanwhile, sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the Spurs’ pitch to the former MVP is scheduled for Saturday.
In addition to meeting with the Thunder, Warriors, and Spurs, Durant also has sit-downs lined up with the Heat, Celtics, and Clippers, and those meetings will take place over the first few days of July, says Broussard (via Twitter). The ESPN reporter adds (via Twitter) that the Knicks are still receiving consideration for a meeting, while the Lakers won’t get one. There’s no mention of the Hawks, who are also trying to “wedge their way” into the Durant sweepstakes, but it doesn’t look like Atlanta will get an audience with KD.
Durant has said that his top priority for his next destination is competing for a championship, and being able to do so immediately. Wojnarowski recently reported that the 27-year-old has plans to go on a publicity tour starting on July 9th, so he’ll likely make a decision before that date.
While a two-year contract with an opt-out after the first year makes the most financial sense for Durant, who could land a much larger max contract in 2017, there have been increased rumblings that he’s not eager to go through the free agent process again in a year, so it’s possible he’ll sign a long-term contract with the team he chooses.
- Unrestricted free agent Jamal Crawford has meetings set with the Clippers, Knicks, Magic, Mavericks and Heat for when the free agent signing period kicks off, Brad Turner of The Los Angels Times reports (via Twitter).
- The Clippers are interested in re-signing unrestricted free agent center Cole Aldrich, but will face competition from the Suns and Magic for the big man’s services, Turner tweets.
The Clippers and assistant coach Lawrence Frank have reached an agreement that will see him promoted to executive vice president of basketball operations, reporting directly to team president and coach Doc Rivers, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports. Frank will be tasked with reorganizing the franchise’s front office, including building out the infrastructure of its scouting, sports science and long-term strategic planning, Wojnarowski notes.