Lakers, Suns Talk To Cavs About Brendan Haywood
The Lakers and Suns are among the teams having discussions with the Cavs about trading for Brendan Haywood and his sizable non-guaranteed contract, according to Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio, writing for Amico Hoops. The Clippers are another, Amico writes, advancing earlier reports connecting the Cavs to Jamal Crawford. Cleveland had reportedly spoken a few days ago to the Nets about trading Haywood, and Anderson Varejao, to the Nets for Joe Johnson, but that conversation has since tailed off, and sources told Amico that Cleveland hasn’t offered Varejao to anyone in its most recent proposals. Haywood isn’t planning to retire if he’s waived, a source tells Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
[RELATED: LeBron James To Re-Sign With Cavs]
Haywood’s contract, a vestige of the amnesty clause that’s worth a non-guaranteed $10,522,500 this coming season, has value to teams seeking to clear cap space or avoid luxury tax payments. Cleveland can use it in a trade that brings in as much as $5MM more, or $13,253,125 if that trade leaves the Cavs over the tax threshold. Those figures increase if Haywood is paired with someone else. Haywood’s salary becomes fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through August 1st, so Cleveland has some time, but a limited amount of it. The 35-year-old center saw only 119 total minutes of action this past season, and, according to Amico, many around the league believe he’ll retire if he’s waived in advance of that August deadline, as seems most likely.
The Lakers appear to be using a large chunk of their cap flexibility to trade for Roy Hibbert, though they may send some salary to Indiana. The major stars are off the market, but the acquisition of Haywood, if executed with sufficient time left before August 1st, would give the Lakers another trade chip. The same would be true for the Suns, who reportedly agreed to trade Marcus Morris and two others to the Pistons in an ill-fated effort to clear cap room for LaMarcus Aldridge. Phoenix is also reportedly shopping Markieff Morris.
It’s unclear exactly what the Cavs are looking for in return for Haywood, though Amico speculates that a wing player would fit the bill, which makes sense, given the rumors linking them to Johnson and Crawford. It appeared earlier that they were looking for either a facilitating guard or a scoring point guard, but that was before they struck a deal with Mo Williams.
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Knicks Sign Robin Lopez
JULY 9TH, 12:42pm: The deal is official, the Knicks announced (on Twitter).
2:15pm: Jordan’s representatives have told the Knicks that they’re out of the running, so the Lopez deal will be a go at the end of the July Moratorium, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter).
1:44pm: The contract would contain no option clauses, a source tells Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck (Twitter link).
JULY 3RD, 12:54pm: The deal would be for four years and $54MM, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, who reiterates that it’s contingent on the Knicks falling short in their long shot effort to sign Jordan (Twitter links).
10:22pm: A source close to Lopez says the big man has committed to join the Knicks, but his deal is in a holding pattern until DeAndre Jordan makes his final decision, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
JULY 2ND, 8:23pm: Free agent center Robin Lopez is engaged in discussions with the Knicks on a deal that would pay him in the range of $12M-$13M per season, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). The Knicks are also looking at trying to land DeAndre Jordan after missing out on Greg Monroe, who agreed to sign with the Bucks earlier today. The Knicks would also target Roy Hibbert via a trade with the Pacers if they miss on Jordan and Lopez, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today reported earlier.
Lopez came away from his Wednesday night meeting with the team possessing a positive impression of New York, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “Interest is mutual,” a source said. “That’s for sure.” The 27-year-old is also garnering serious interest from the Lakers, Wojnarowski adds. Both franchises have a profound need of depth at the pivot, and the defensive-minded Lopez would be a solid fit for either franchise. The Pelicans and Bucks were also reported to be interested in Lopez at the commencement of the free agent signing period.
The seven-footer made 59 appearances for the Blazers last season, averaging 9.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 27.8 minutes per game. His career numbers through seven NBA seasons are 8.2 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 1.2 BPG, with a slash line of .532/.000/.759.
Bucks Sign Greg Monroe To Max
JULY 9TH, 12:33pm: The deal is official, the team announced.
“The entire Bucks organization is thrilled to welcome Greg to Milwaukee,” GM John Hammond said. “Greg will be a fantastic complement to the talented young roster we’re assembling. The fact that he chose Milwaukee speaks volumes about the culture we’re developing and the bright future we envision for the Bucks.”
“Greg is a skilled low-post scorer and rebounder, and will add a whole new dimension to our young roster,” coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s just 25 years old and still scratching the surface of his potential. I’m looking forward to helping him develop along with our other talented young players.”
11:40am: Falk strongly denies to Marc Berman of the New York Post that the Knicks didn’t offer the max (Twitter links), and confirms to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that the Lakers and Blazers did, too, with Milwaukee’s playoff-readiness at the heart of Monroe’s decision (Twitter link).
10:37am: The Knicks, Lakers and Blazers also offered the max, as Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck hears, so that’s conflicting information on New York’s offer (Twitter link). The max for three years will be an estimated $50MM, as Wojnarowski pegs it in his full story.
9:20am: It’ll be a three-year contract with a player option on the final season, Wojnarowski tweets. Monroe will be eligible for a higher max bracket in two years, just as the salary cap is projected to reach its peak.
JULY 2ND, 9:02am: Greg Monroe will sign a maximum-salary contract with the Bucks, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The David Falk client was to meet with the Knicks, who long appeared the front-runners for him, as well as the Lakers and Blazers. The Knicks didn’t offer the max to Monroe, as USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt hears, perhaps explaining why he didn’t end up in New York (Twitter link). He’ll make about $16MM this coming season on a max deal, though it’s not immediately clear how long the contract, which can’t become official until the July Moratorium ends next week, will run.
Milwaukee has reportedly been keen on signing a marquee center, having eyed Tyson Chandler and Brook Lopez, among others, and Monroe, No. 7 on our Free Agent Power Rankings from last month, fits the bill. The Bucks will have to sign him using cap room, meaning his deal will almost certainly become official before Khris Middleton’s reported five-year, $70MM pact does, since Middleton’s cap hold will balloon from $2.725MM to eight figures once he signs.
It’s no surprise that Monroe is leaving the Pistons, as even though Falk and Monroe insisted that Detroit had a shot to keep him, with Monroe going so far as to say the Pistons had the “upper hand” at one point, it seemed a strong bet that he’d leave ever since he signed his qualifying offer from the Pistons last year. The Pistons reportedly offered less than the max when Monroe was a restricted free agent in 2014, so it appears his gamble paid off. I thought he’d at least come close to the max when I examined his free agent stock this past spring.
Blazers Sign Ed Davis
JULY 9TH, 9:22am: The deal is official, the team announced.
JULY 2ND, 1:56pm: The Blazers are finalizing a deal with Ed Davis, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). It’s for three years and $20MM, according to Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). It doesn’t include any options, reports Ken Berger of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). The deal appears to be small enough so that Portland can sign him using the mid-level exception if it retains LaMarcus Aldridge and Robin Lopez, though it appears more likely the Blazers will use cap space.
Agent David Bauman took to Twitter to confirm the deal (hat tip to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders). The Lakers made a concerted push to retain him even as they chased star free agents, but Davis’ commitment to the Blazers was too quick for L.A. to catch up to, a source indicated to Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Twitter link). The Knicks, Pistons and Celtics apparently showed interest, too, but Davis wound up with salaries lower than the ones Medina had earlier reported he was seeking.
Davis made 79 appearances for the Lakers this past season. He notched averages of 8.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks in 23.3 minutes per game, with a slash line of .601/.000/.487. His career numbers through 354 contests are 7.2 PPG, 6.3 RPG, and 1.0 BPG.
Salary Cap Higher Than Expected For 2015/16
The NBA’s salary cap for 2015/16 will be $70MM, an 11% increase from this past season, and the luxury tax line will be $84.74MM, as sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (Twitter links) and as the NBA confirms (hat tip to Sam Amico of Amico Hoops). The last cap projection from the league had been $67.1MM, and while Ken Berger of CBSSports.com reported last month that the cap might end up higher than that by $1-2MM, it appears the cap wound up surpassing even the most optimistic of expectations. The projection for the tax had been $81.6MM.
The figures mean the maximum salaries for this coming season are also higher than estimated, so LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, Kawhi Leonard and others who’ve agreed to max contracts this month will see more than they thought. Leonard, among those eligible for the max reserved for players with fewer than seven years of experience, will see $16,407,500 as a starting salary on his deal, tweets Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today. The maximum starting salary for players with seven to nine years of experience, like Aldridge and Gasol, is $19,689,000, according to Zillgitt. No player with 10 or more years of experience has agreed to a max contract yet, but LeBron James almost certainly will. The maximum starting salary for those in his bracket is $22,970,500, as Zillgitt reveals in his tweet.
The higher cap will likely have a significant effect on the structure of the trade agreement that is to send Roy Hibbert to the Lakers, as Jake Fischer of SI Now tweets. It had been unclear whether the Lakers would have enough cap room to accommodate Hibbert’s salary of more than $15.5MM, so it was possible that L.A. would have to send players to Indiana as part of the deal, or ship players elsewhere. The Lakers were reportedly exploring trades that wound send out Robert Sacre, Ryan Kelly and Nick Young.
Other teams will benefit from the higher cap, and the higher tax line means less of a burden for the Bulls, Heat, Nets, Cavs, Warriors, and Thunder, all of whom are already in tax territory or are expected to get there. That’s especially so for Brooklyn and Miami, as both would pay repeat-offender tax penalties if they finished the regular season above that $84.74MM threshold. Teams that trigger a hard cap this year will have greater flexibility, since they can spend up to $88.74MM, $4MM above the tax line.
The league also tabulated final payrolls for each team from last season, revealing that players collectively made less than the 50.39% of basketball-related income that the collective bargaining agreement holds that they’re entitled to. Thus, the league will pay out the $57,298,826 shortfall to the union, which will distribute that amongst the players, as Zillgitt relays (Twitter link). Also, both the Magic and Nuggets fell shy of the $56.759MM minimum team salary. Orlando was $1.92MM short, so the players who finished the season on the Magic’s roster will split a $1.92MM payment from the team, salary cap expert Larry Coon tweets. Those on the Nuggets roster will share $773K, Coon adds. This year’s salary floor, locked in at 90% of the cap, will be $63MM, the NBA announced.
Today’s news doesn’t affect the amounts for exceptions, like the mid-level and biannual, and player minimum salaries, as the league and the players set them in stone when they negotiated the collective bargaining agreement in 2011. Thus, those figures have progressively less relative value as the cap rises from year to year.
This year’s cap increase, unlike those projected for years to come, isn’t a direct result of the league’s $24 billion TV deal, which doesn’t kick in until next July. Instead, it appears to be a function of higher than expected revenue during the 2014/15 season. The Warriors collected record gate receipts on their run to the Finals, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe reported, and it would seem likely that the NBA saw unforeseen money from other avenues, too.
Western Rumors: Durant, Cauley-Stein, Lee, Suns
The Mavericks believe they’re legitimate contenders for Kevin Durant next summer, buoyed as they are by their agreements to sign DeAndre Jordan and Wesley Matthews, reports Chris Mannix of SI.com. Of course, they’ll have plenty of competition, as many teams will no doubt line up for a chance at the player atop the 2016 free agent class. The Wizards have reportedly loomed as the top threat to the Thunder for the former MVP. Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- One lottery team took Willie Cauley-Stein off its board completely over concerns about his surgically repaired left ankle, while another two teams cleared him, but “just barely,” according to Mannix, who writes in the same piece. The Kings drafted Cauley-Stein sixth overall.
- The Warriors didn’t have any option of moving David Lee for no salary in return when they agreed to take on Gerald Wallace from the Celtics, according to Tim Kawakami of the Bay Area News Group. The trade agreement nonetheless shrinks Golden State’s projected outlay from nearly $150MM in combined payroll and tax payments to about $128MM, Kawakami writes.
- Suns coach Jeff Hornacek knows and likes Derrick Favors from his time as a Jazz assistant coach, but Utah is firm in its position to keep the power forward, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic, suggesting that Phoenix is more likely to make a major addition via trade than free agency at this point. Speculation linking the Suns to Ryan Anderson doesn’t seem likely to bear fruit, Coro adds.
- The Thunder met with free agent Keith Appling on Tuesday, a visit that could lead to a training camp invitation, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The former Michigan State point guard was with the Lakers for preseason this past fall.
And-Ones: Lee, Randle, Bulls, Clippers
Clippers guard J.J. Redick vented his frustrations with his team’s offseason during an interview with Bleacher Report Radio, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times relays. When asked to grade Los Angeles’ free agent moves, Redick said, “Is there an F-minus?” The veteran continued expressing his disappointment, saying, “Listen, we had one priority this summer and that was to re-sign D.J. [DeAndre Jordan] and we missed out on that, so barring some miracle, [the] makeup of our team is completely different now.” The center agreed to a four-year, $80MM deal with Dallas last week.
Redick noted the myriad of ways in which the Clippers will miss Jordan, referring to the big man as, “such an integral part of what we did, not just defensively but offensively with his screening, his rolling, his offensive rebounds. His presence down low essentially made teams either commit to the three-point line when Blake [Griffin] or Chris [Paul] penetrated or commit to him, and that either opened up lobs for him or threes for guys like me and Jamal [Crawford] and Matt [Barnes].”
Here’s what else is happening around the league:
- Free agent Kevin Seraphin is receiving interest from the Mavericks, Michael Scotto of Sheridan Hoops relays (Twitter link). The 25-year-old center has also had inquiries from the Lakers, Wizards, Suns and Spurs, Scotto adds.
- The Lakers‘ first round draft pick of a year ago, Julius Randle, participated in his first organized practice with the team since he suffering a broken leg in his NBA debut last season, Baxter Holmes of ESPNLosAngeles.com writes. Randle, who is on track to be recovered by the start of the 2015/16 season, has lost weight while getting stronger, which should improve his quickness and production, Holmes adds. “The credit goes to my coaches for staying on me and not letting this downtime being injured be a step in the wrong direction,” Randle said. “I’m taking advantage of it the most that I could. It’s also me with my drive and will and people supporting me. The credit goes to all of them.“
- The proposed trade that would send David Lee to the Celtics can save the Warriors roughly $5MM in salary and an additional $18MM in luxury tax, which makes the deal worth doing for Golden State, even if Lee’s presence will be missed, Daniel Leroux of The Sporting News writes.
- The Bulls missed a major opportunity to take advantage of a still developing Cavaliers roster and reach the NBA Finals, a feat that has grown even more difficult with the improvements that Cleveland, not to mention the Bucks and Raptors, made this offseason, Scoop Jackson of ESPN.com writes.
Lowe’s Latest: Heat, West, Aldridge, Suns
The Heat have “put out Shabazz Napier feelers” as they seek to maximize their cap flexibility for the summer of 2016, Grantland’s Zach Lowe writes within a larger column on free agency. Mario Chalmers and Chris Andersen are available “for nothing,” Lowe adds, presumably meaning that the Heat continue to place a priority on clearing their salaries in an effort to avoid repeat-offender luxury tax penalties. Heat president Pat Riley denied a report last month that the team was shopping the pair, who are set to make a combined $9.3MM this coming season, but it sounds as if Miami is at least open to the idea of moving them if another team comes forward with an offer. Miami could simply decline its 2016/17 team option on Napier, worth about $1.35MM, but the team presumably wants to extract more value than that out of last year’s 24th overall pick. Lowe dishes plenty more in his latest must-read column, and we’ll pass along some of the highlights:
- David West turned down an extra $4MM or so from the Wizards and about an extra $2MM from the Warriors when he reportedly agreed to sign for the minimum salary with the Spurs, several league sources tell Lowe. That signals that Washington would have spent its $5.464MM non-taxpayer’s mid-level and Golden State would have used its $3.376MM taxpayer’s mid-level instead of committing part of it to Leandro Barbosa.
- The Nuggets tried before the draft to trade the lottery protected 2016 first-round pick it acquired from the Blazers in the Arron Afflalo trade in February, but no one bit, out of fear that the Blazers would lose LaMarcus Aldridge and miss the playoffs two years in a row, Lowe hears. If Portland doesn’t qualify for the postseason in 2016 or 2017, the first-rounder turns into two second-rounders, as RealGM notes.
- Aldridge’s interest in the Lakers was serious as free agency began, several sources told Lowe. He took two meetings with the team after the first one apparently didn’t focus enough on basketball for his liking.
- Suns owner Robert Sarver is impatient with his team’s playoff drought and has made it clear to the front office that he wants them to be aggressive in free agency, Lowe reports. That explains Phoenix’s pursuit of Aldridge, which had the Suns seemingly co-favorites with the Spurs at one point.
- The best information so far indicates that DeMar DeRozan and Chandler Parsons will opt out next summer, Lowe writes, though it’s early.
- George Karl loved coaching Kosta Koufos when they were together with the Nuggets, according to Lowe, so Sacramento’s agreement to sign the center leaves the Grantland columnist with the impression that Karl indeed has some degree of sway over Kings personnel.
Hoops Rumors Community Shootaround 7/6/15
The Lakers have failed to land a marquee free agent thus far this offseason, and unless LeBron James has a major change of heart regarding where he’d like to play next season, that’s not likely to to be altered. No disrespect to reigning Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams and forward Brandon Bass, but those agreements don’t necessarily qualify as franchise-altering deals. Adding big man Roy Hibbert via a potential trade could turn out to be a solid move for the team, and Los Angeles did add a potential superstar via the NBA Draft in D’Angelo Russell. But this season’s Lakers don’t appear on first pass to be a fundamentally better squad than the 2014/15 version.
But that’s just my take, and this is my segue to the question of the day: How do you grade the Lakers’ offseason moves thus far? If you’re a Laker fan, are you content with what the team has accomplished, or are any of you seriously contemplating switching allegiances to the Clippers as a result of your frustrations? What move that the team has made has impressed you/frustrated you the most? Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions, or to simply vent your angst at the state of the purple-and-gold. We look forward to what you have to say.
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And-Ones: Health Care, Bucks, Hollins
In other news around the league:
- California’s 13.3% state income tax, the highest in the nation by a large margin, is a factor why the Lakers and Clippers are having trouble attracting free agents and keeping their own, Tony Nitti of Forbes.com reports. No-income tax states like Texas and Florida essentially nullify any inherent advantage teams in high-tax states have in re-signing their own free agents, Nitti adds.
- Bucks president Peter Feigin urged Wisconsin lawmakers on Monday to pass legislation that would make taxpayers split the costs for a proposed $500MM arena, according to Todd Richmond of the Associated Press. Feigin told them if construction did not begin this year, the NBA would move the team, possibly to Las Vegas or Seattle, the story continues. The Bucks, who currently play in the 27-year-old Bradley Center, have been warned by the league that if they don’t have a new arena by 2017, the league will buy the team and move it, the story adds.
- Free agent center Ryan Hollins has drawn interest from the Kings and Pelicans, a source told Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Clippers are also looking at Hollins but haven’t made an offer, Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times tweets.