Donald Sterling Agrees To Sale Of Clippers
9:19pm: Sterling has yet to officially sign anything, Shelburne reports, however his legal team fully expects him to sign without issue. (Twitter links)
7:49pm: Shelburne clarifies, via Twitter, that her sources have indicated that removing Sterling’s ban from the NBA was not part of the deal despite the charges against him being dropped.
5:46pm: Donald Sterling will not pursue any further legal action against the NBA and will agree to the sale of the Clippers to Steve Ballmer, tweets ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne. Maxwell Blecher, Sterling’s lawyer, tells Shelburne that Sterling has agreed to sell and drop the lawsuit against the league and in return the NBA will drop the charges and not sue the former Clippers’ owner for anything (Twitter link). More specifically, David Aldridge of NBA.com is told by Blecher that the decision to drop the $1 billion lawsuit was “part of the broader deal” with the NBA dropping its suit against Sterling (Twitter link).
This news presumably puts an end to a saga that many thought might drag out in court for the foreseeable future. Of course, Sterling was famously banned from the NBA for life by commissioner Adam Silver in April after expressing racially charged statements on a recording. After agreeing to allow his wife, Shelly Sterling, to negotiate the sale of the team, Sterling then issued a statement claiming the league’s attempt to force him out was illegal. Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, won the Clippers via a $2 billion bid on May 29th, which resulted in Sterling filing a $1 billion suit against the NBA and his wife at least partly in protest of mental health experts reportedly declaring him mentally incapacitated and, in turn, giving his wife control of the family trust.
As of this morning, the Sterling camp was still considering its options but it sounds like Sterling and the league have come to an agreement to transfer ownership to Ballmer without any further legal complications.
Durant, James Lead All-NBA First Team
1:02pm: Haynes clarifies to Hoops Rumors that Lillard’s bonus comes from his shoe endorsement deal, not his NBA contract, so his cap hit remains the same for next season.
12:07pm: Lillard receives a $250K bonus for his third-team selection, reports Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com. Haynes doesn’t specify whether it was counted as a likely or unlikely bonus, but since Lillard signed the rookie scale contract just after going No. 6 overall in the 2012 draft, it’s almost certainly an unlikely bonus, meaning his cap figure for next season will receive a bump, just as with Noah.
11:27am: Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Joakim Noah, Chris Paul and James Harden make up the All-NBA First Team, the league announced. Stephen Curry, Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Dwight Howard and Tony Parker are on the second team, while the third team is Al Jefferson, Paul George, LaMarcus Aldridge, Goran Dragic and Damian Lillard. The selection means George will earn roughly 27% of the salary cap next season, rather than 25%, as a result of the Derrick Rose Rule provision in his extension that kicks in for 2014/15.
Durant, the league’s MVP, was a unanimous first-team selection, while James received first-team nods from 124 of the 125 media voters. Curry was the highest vote-getter who failed to make the first team, collecting 65 first-team votes. The rest of the second team combined to receive just 30 first-team votes.
Carmelo Anthony came closest to making the teams among those who didn’t, followed by John Wall, Tim Duncan, DeMar DeRozan and Anthony Davis. A total of 22 players received first-team votes, while 39 got votes for at least one of the teams.
Noah’s first-team nod gives him a $500K bonus that was originally deemed unlikely. It’ll be added to his cap figure, but it probably won’t be enough to tip the Bulls over the luxury tax line this season, as they scrambled to make late season moves to avoid any scenario in which they would have to do so. The bonus will nonetheless impinge on Chicago’s cap flexibility for the summer ahead, since it will be counted as likely for 2014/15 and be a part of Noah’s cap hit, taking it from $12.2MM to $12.7MM.
Latest On Clippers, Donald Sterling
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer appears poised to become the next owner of the Clippers after brokering a deal to buy the club for $2 million, but banned owner Donald Sterling still casts a shadow over the franchise. Here’s the latest:
- Donald Sterling’s primary motivation, should he continue to fight the sale, would have to do with his reputation, as Maxwell Blecher, one of his attorneys, tells James Rainey and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. “He doesn’t want to die and have his tombstone say, ‘Here lies a mental incompetent and a racist,’” Blecher said. “He is trying to do the best he can to see whether those stigmas can be eliminated or at least reduced. … That is what this is about.”
- Sterling would prefer to come to settlement with his wife rather than sue her, Blecher tells the Times reporters. Rainey and Fenno believe Blecher implied that Sterling might be willing to OK the deal to sell the team to Ballmer, but only under certain conditions. Sterling wants his wife to withdraw statements from neurologists asserting that he’s mentally incapacitated and restore his power within the family trust, according to Rainey and Fenno. Shelly Sterling reportedly acted as the sole trustee when she negotiated the sale of the Clippers.
- Another move Sterling is apparently thinking about involves challenging the indemnification that would reportedly make the family trust liable for any damages in a suit he filed against the league, Rainey and Fenno write.
- Sterling seemed less willing to put up a legal fight in an interview with Fred Roggin of NBC4 in Los Angeles, saying he’s ready to “move on.” “I feel fabulous, I feel very good. Everything is just the way it should be, really. It may have worked out differently, but it’s good. It’s all good,” Sterling said.
Draft Notes: Jazz, Gordon, Ennis, Napier
The Jazz aren’t looking at potential replacements for Gordon Hayward in the draft because the team is confident the soon-to-be restricted free agent will be back with Utah next season. That’s what Jazz vice president of player personnel Walt Perrin told reporters, including Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. It jibes with longstanding mutual interest between Hayward and the team, with a nod to the inherent control that clubs have over restricted free agents, but it also demonstrates the link between the draft and free agency. Both are on the horizon, so here’s the latest on the draft as prospects demonstrate what they can do for teams:
- Monday’s Kings audition for Aaron Gordon didn’t really amount to a workout in the team’s eyes, notes Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (Twitter links). The power forward simply took a few shots and met with owner Vivek Ranadive and GM Pete D’Alessandro, according to Jones.
- Tyler Ennis will work out for the Hawks, Hornets and Nuggets, notes Jonathan Santiago of Cowbell Kingdom.
- Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com adds Shabazz Napier to the list of those working out for the Suns (Twitter link).
- P.J. Hairston will perform for the Sixers next week, agent Juan Murrow tells Tyler R. Tynes of the Philadelphia Daily News.
- Russ Smith, Nick Johnson, Jahii Carson and Sam Dower are among the players showing off for the Raptors today, the team announced (on Twitter).
- Artem Klimenko is working out for the Mavs, Heat and Clippers, tweets David Pick of Eurobasket.com.
Pacific Notes: Ballmer, Fisher, Sterling
The impact of Steve Ballmer‘s $2 billion purchase of the Clippers is causing a ripple effect throughout the league, writes NBA.com’s David Aldridge. Aldridge runs down the “winners” of the pending transaction, in order. At the top, of course, is the Microsoft magnate himself. After that, it’s the NBA owners, LeBron James, and then the Players Association. Here’s more out of the Pacific..
- The Lakers do plan to reach out to Derek Fisher this week as well as Larry Brown and Scott Skiles at some point about their coaching vacancy, but their search is proceeding slowly, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter links). The Lakers are focused more on player evaluation at present.
- In an email to Shelburne (Twitter link), Max Blecher, the lawyer for Clippers owner Donald Sterling said, “We are still considering our options,” with regard to legal action versus the NBA and Shelly Sterling.
- The Kings are without a second-round pick, but they’re on the lookout for one via trade, GM Pete D’Alessandro said, as Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee details. “Our ownership group has put their money where their mouth is,” D’Alessandro said.“For us there would be no need to look at second-round pick (talent) if there was no real option, and that is an option.” Some second-round prospects have avoided Sacramento, given the lack of a pick, but that hasn’t been the case with all of them, and D’Alessandro isn’t dismayed, Jones notes.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: McRae, Hood, Young, Suns, Smart
Earlier today, our own Zach Links (Twitter links) spoke with Tennesee guard Jordan McRae who told Hoops Rumors that he has worked out for the Heat, Pistons, and 76ers in addition to his previously reported audition with the Bulls. Still on the docket for McRae are workouts with the Bucks, Raptors, Mavericks, Wizards, Pacers, and Rockets. In total, McRae says he has “about nine” workouts to go, so there should be even more clubs on the horizon for him (link). DraftExpress currently has McRae pegged to go to Toronto at No. 59 in their mock draft. Here’s the latest draft news from around the league..
- Rodney Hood, James Young, Zach LaVine, and Clint Capela are among those working out for the Suns today whom we hadn’t previously heard about. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has the details (Twitter links).
- Marcus Smart says he’ll work out a second time for the Magic, tweets Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com.
- The Knicks will audition Patric Young, as Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com hears (Twitter link). They brought Markel Starks in for a look this weekend, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link).
- Orlando Sanchez has already shown off for Kings, and he’ll also do so for Pacers, as Josh Newman of SNY.tv chronicles.
- The Bucks brought Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Cameron Clark, Josh Huestis, Melvin Johnson, Ovie Soko, and Fuquan Edwin in for auditions today, the team announced. Our own Zach Links interviewed Huestis in April as a part of our Prospect Profile series.
- Edwin also has the Suns on his agenda, and he’s already worked out for the Spurs, Sixers, Kings and Clippers, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel adds the Knicks and Sixers to the list of teams for which Antetokounmpo auditioned (Twitter link).
- Bryce Cotton is headed for a workout with the Mavs on Wednesday, tweets Kevin McNamara of the Providence Journal.
- DeAndre Kane, Jake Odum, Jakarr Sampson, and Okaro White are among those performing for the Grizzlies today, as Michael Cohen of The Commercial Appeal details in a subscription-only piece.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Joakim Noah Leads All-Defensive Team
Defensive Player of the Year Joakim Noah, Paul George, Chris Paul, Serge Ibaka and Andre Iguodala make up this year’s All-Defensive First Team, the NBA announced in a press release. LeBron James, Patrick Beverley, Jimmy Butler, Kawhi Leonard and Roy Hibbert are on the second team. The news is a boon for the Bulls, who would have had to pay Taj Gibson a $250K bonus for making either the first or second All-Defensive teams. Chicago scrambled late in the season to avoid the possibility that such a bonus for Gibson would force the team to pay the luxury tax. Earning the bonus would have pushed Gibson’s salary cap figure higher for next season, too, since it would have been considered a “likely” bonus for next season.
Noah received 105 first-place votes, far outdistancing George, who with 65 first-place votes earned the second most. Iguodala and James received an identical number of first-place votes (57), but Iguodala’s 34 second-team votes were better than the four-time MVP’s 20, allowing Golden State’s swingman to take the final position on the first team.
Clippers center DeAndre Jordan was the highest vote-getter who missed the cut for the second team, followed by Anthony Davis and Tony Allen. Tim Duncan and Dwight Howard were next, directly in front of Gibson.
And-Ones: Hairston, Embiid, Draft
P.J. Hairston‘s journey to the NBA is a unique one, and may open the door for others to take a similar path in the future, writes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. On leaving North Carolina to play in the NBA D-League, Hairston said, “It wasn’t my choice to play in the D-League. I ended up there, and I wanted to be able to graduate, so I was in the D-League and took all of my courses. For some guys, it’s there for them if they want to. Some guys want to stay in college and graduate. It’s up to that person.”
More from around the league:
- With the NBA moving toward smaller lineups, the traditional center position is changing, but Joel Embiid might be able to reverse the trend, writes Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post.
- Scott Howard-Cooper of NBA.com proposes five tweaks for the NBA Draft lottery that could improve the process.
- With the Thunder falling short of the NBA Finals again, Bradford Doolittle and Amin Elhassan of ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) look at the roster moves the team might make this summer, as well as opine on the team’s ideal rotation.
- Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion offer for the Clippers is nearly four times the record sale for an NBA team, and has experts puzzled over how the former Microsoft chief plans to make any money on the deal, write Charles Fleming, Walter Hamilton, and Andrea Chang of The Los Angeles Times.
- Roscoe Smith will have pre-draft workouts this week with the Jazz, Bulls, and Suns, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Smith is projected as a second-round pick in this June’s draft.
Coaching Rumors: Griffin, Lue, Corbin
We learned earlier today that Adrian Griffin is being brought back for a second interview in Utah as part of a smaller group of candidates for the job, and a source tells Jody Genessy of Deseret News that Griffin has a “very, very good shot” at landing the Jazz head coaching job (Twitter link). Here’s more on the coaching front:
- Tyronn Lue made a strong impression with Cavs officials in his interview for the Cleveland head coaching job, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Lue is currently serving as an assistant with the Clippers.
- Tyrone Corbin will interview for an assistant coaching position with the Kings, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Another tweet from Genessy adds that Sacramento and Corbin are still in the early stages of the interviewing process. Corbin was fired by the Jazz after a rocky 2013/14 season.
- Corbin is also drawing interest as an assistant for the Warriors and Rockets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Hubie Brown believes Derek Fisher, thought to be the front-runner for the Knicks head coaching job, can be successful in transitioning from an NBA player to head coach if he chooses to do so, Brown tells Marc Berman of The New York Post. “You’re not dealing with a typical basketball player. You’re dealing with a guy [in Fisher] with great intelligence,” said Brown. “And he displays leadership with a team that won championships where he was not a star player — just a guy who made the chemistry go and then had leadership in the union.”
- Warriors coach Steve Kerr denies Phil Jackson‘s assertion that he had given a verbal commitment to accept the Knicks head coaching position, telling Mitch Lawrence of the Daily News that his strong intimations probably gave Jackson the impression that he was virtually committed. “We didn’t have a handshake agreement or anything like that,” said Kerr. “I think Phil and I both thought it was going to happen…But in the end, Phil knew I wasn’t quite comfortable and he didn’t hold me to any of our conversations.”
Charlie Adams contributed to this post.
And-Ones: CBA, LeBron, Thompson, Anthony
Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel expects the $2 billion sale of the Clippers to have far-reaching effects on the next round of collective bargaining between the NBA and the players’ union. While the league has negotiated without recognizing appreciation values of franchises, the Clippers selling for so much will take away that luxury. Winderman anticipates the National Basketball Players Association will terminate the current CBA at its first opportunity in 2017, and thinks the players can and should fight to do away with maximum salary limitations for themselves. Here’s more from around the league:
- Winderman specifically looks to LeBron James as a player that could make immediate decisions based on the altered landscape following the Clippers sale. The Sun Sentinel scribe wouldn’t be surprised if James decides against opting out of his contract with the Heat in the coming seasons, taking a year-by-year approach until more lucrative contracts could become available.
- If Klay Thompson reaches free agency, he could field multiple offers at or near the max, NBA sources tell Tim Kawakami of Bay Area News Group. If the Warriors and Thompson can’t agree to an extension by the deadline early next season, he will become a restricted free agent in 2015/16.
- Joakim Noah hasn’t relented in his “consistent efforts” to recruit Carmelo Anthony to the Bulls, writes K.C. Johnson of The Chicago Tribune. Johnson says Chicago is sure to “get in the game” to pursue Anthony this summer, even though signing him remains a long shot.
- Mark Price has told Mary Schmitt Boyer of The Plain Dealer that he has long been interested in coming to Cleveland as a coach, but multiple Cavs regimes haven’t reciprocated the interest. Price played for Cleveland in nine of his 12 seasons, and is now working as an assistant with the Hornets.
- In addition to his candidacy for multiple head coaching jobs, Lionel Hollins is drawing interest as an associate head coach for the Warriors and Rockets, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.