Memphis Grizzlies Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Cavs Nearing Deal With Mike Miller

July 13th, 2014 at 3:12pm CST by Chuck Myron

SUNDAY, 3:12pm: Miller is a possibility for the Mavs or Rockets, depending on which club doesn’t get Chandler Parsons, tweets Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com.

SATURDAY, 6:40pm: The Cavs and Miller are now making progress on a contract, tweets Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.

9:56am: Sam Amick of USA Today tweets that the Cavs are not yet close to a deal with Miller, and have only had cursory conversations at this point.

12:33am: The Cavs are closing in on a deal with Miller, tweets Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio. Miller on Friday cut off talks with the Nuggets, with whom he was reportedly close to a deal earlier this week, and had the Grizzlies tell him they were ending their pursuit.

WEDNESDAY, 3:27pm: Miller’s price is shooting up, with the Grizzlies, Thunder and Nuggets all in the race along with the Cavs, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). He’s in line for salaries of $4-4.5MM, Wojnarowski adds.

11:22am: James reached out to a pair of free agents about joining him on a team if he were to leave the Heat, and Miller was one of them, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Miller can’t sign with the Heat, since his amnestied contract would have run through next season, and teams are barred from re-signing the players they amnesty while their old contracts would still have been in effect.

10:52am: The Cavs are in pursuit of free agent Mike Miller, sources tell Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio (Twitter link). It seems like the latest move in the team’s efforts to land LeBron James, after this morning’s trade to clear max cap flexibility and news of the team’s attempts to sign Ray Allen. Cleveland is also making a run at James Jones, a longtime member of the Heat and a favorite of LeBron’s, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.

Cleveland reportedly considered claiming Miller off amnesty waivers last summer, but he wound up clearing those waivers and signing with the Grizzlies as a free agent, as Miller apparently gave signals he wouldn’t want to play in Cleveland. It’s not clear whether the chance to reunite with LeBron James, should the four-time MVP sign with Cleveland, would persuade Miller to reconsider a move to the Cavs. The Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets, Thunder and Grizzlies are all reportedly in the mix for Miller, and while a report last week indicating that Memphis believed it was losing a bidding war for the Arn Tellem client also said that Miller would make his decision soon, he remains on the market.

Jones, 33, was little-used the past three seasons, though he did emerge as a rotation player for a time during the postseason for the Heat this past spring. The Miami native is likely in line for a minimum-salary deal wherever he ends up.

Western Notes: Pelicans, Parsons, Grunwald

July 12th, 2014 at 6:03pm CST by Cray Allred

The Thunder lost a valuable weapon Friday with the expiration of a $6.5MM trade exception left over from last year’s sign-and-trade of Kevin Martin to the Wolves. The Thunder had hoped to use the exception to acquire Pau Gasol, and today lost out on the big man, report Marc Stein and Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. Here’s more from out West:

The Warriors had considered using their own expired trade exception to acquire Brandon Bass, among other players, reports Zach Lowe of Grantland.
The Pelicans renounced their rights to Al-Farouq Aminu, Jason Smith and James Southerland, tweets Mark Deeks of ShamSports. That means they no longer hold any form of Bird rights on the trio.
The Suns also renounced Emeka Okafor‘s rights in a move that will erase his $19.2MM cap hold from Phoenix’s books, Deeks reports in a separate tweet.
Sources tell Marc Stein of ESPN.com (via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com) that although the Rockets just snagged small forward Trevor Ariza, Houston is still deciding whether to match Chandler Parsons‘ max offer sheet with the Mavs.
The Grizzlies have been talking up Glen Grunwald as a candidate for their GM-in-waiting search, Mitch Lawrence of New York Daily News reports. Lawrence expects Memphis to hire Grunwald for the job.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Vince Carter Signs With Grizzlies

July 12th, 2014 at 8:00am CST by Eddie Scarito

SATURDAY, 8:00am: The signing is official, the team announced in a release.

SATURDAY, 12:15am: The final year is partially guaranteed for $2MM, according to USA Today’s Sam Amick (Twitter link).

FRIDAY, 11:18pm: Carter had told the Mavs that he would take a two-year, $8MM deal to stay in Dallas, but the team couldn’t go higher than $2.73MM per year due to the offer sheet they signed with Chandler Parsons, tweets MacMahon.

10:53pm: Vince Carter has agreed to a three-year, $12MM deal with Memphis, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). The third year of the deal is partially guaranteed, tweets Wojnarowski. Carter looks to be taking the place of Mike Miller, who was informed this evening that the Grizzlies would not be bringing him back.

The Mavericks had renounced their rights to Carter yesterday, but still hoped to re-sign the veteran. Dallas had been confident they could keep Vince Carter, but all they could offer was a $2.73MM exception, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). Carter had also reportedly been the subject of pitches from the Heat and others.

The 37 year old veteran had averaged 11.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG while averaging 24.4 minutes per night for Dallas last season. He has lifetime numbers of 20.2 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 3.7 APG.

Mike Miller Halts Talks With Nuggets

July 11th, 2014 at 10:11pm CST by Cray Allred

10:11pm: The Grizzlies have informed Miller that the team will be going in another direction and won’t be bringing him back, Miller announced via his twitter account.

4:23pm: James reached out to Miller again today, and Cavs officials have done so, too, reports Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Miller continues to consider the Nuggets, Thunder and Grizzlies, Goodman adds.

FRIDAY, 3:37pm: Miller has stopped negotiations with the Nuggets and is “exploring every option” that would allow him to join James in Cleveland, with the Cavs reportedly having been in pursuit.

WEDNESDAY, 8:06pm: Free agent Mike Miller is close to agreeing on a deal with the Nuggets, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Grizzlies, Cavs, Thunder, Rockets, and Blazers have all shown interest in signing the sharpshooter this offseason. Miller was preparing to decide on his destination early in free agency, but met with Denver in recent days after being underwhelmed by the Grizzlies offer to retain him.

The Cavs were the most recent team to chase Miller in the hopes of enticing LeBron James to sign in Cleveland. James had reportedly reached out to Miller to pitch a reunion between the two if James were to leave the Heat in the coming days. There has been no report of Miller’s eagerness to rejoin James, so this news doesn’t shed any light on LeBron’s looming decision.

Whatever deal Miller signs will net him salary in addition to most of the $6.6MM owed to him by Miami from his amnestied contract that runs through next season. A multi-year deal for the 34-year-old would add financial security for the oft-injured shooting guard, and his projected role could also be a significant factor as he chooses his next team. The Nuggets are widely considered the least title-ready team of the teams pursuing him.

Free Agent Rumors: ‘Melo, LeBron, Morrow, Blake

July 10th, 2014 at 8:53pm CST by Charlie Adams

Phil Jackson might be expecting Carmelo Anthony to rejoin the Knicks, but ‘Melo hasn’t ruled out the Bulls just quite yet, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Meanwhile, the Heat expected to have had an answer from LeBron James by this point, according to Bleacher Report’s Ethan Skolnick. James was frustrated with some of coach Erik Spoelstra‘s strategy during the Finals this year and wasn’t impressed with team president Pat Riley‘s end-of-season press conference last month, Skolnick adds.

While the NBA world waits on the decisions of superstars like Anthony and James, let’s round up the latest from free agents all around the league..

Anthony Morrow has received interest from several teams, but it appears he’s deciding between joining the Clippers, Heat, Wizards, Raptors and Suns, reports David Aldridge of NBA.com, who adds that each of the teams Morrow is considering would be willing to use some or all of their mid-level exception to sign him (Twitter links). Given that the Clippers and Heat have both used up the full amount of their mid-level exceptions, signing Morrow would likely require a sign-and-trade to complete.
The Warriors took “another” look at DJ White today, notes Diamond Leung of the Bay Area News Group (on Twitter), thereby implying it’s at least the second time Golden State has looked at the big man. White had his rights renounced by Charlotte earlier today.
Other teams submitted much stronger bids for Steve Blake but he “desperately” wanted to play for the Blazers, as he agreed to do today, a source tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com (Twitter link). The Lakers weren’t among the teams making an aggressive play for the point guard, as they offered only the minimum salary, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times hears.
The Jazz, Pelicans, Rockets, and Nets are interested in Francisco Garcia, a source tells Haynes (Twitter link).
The Wolves are making an effort to sign Evan Turner to one-year deal, a source tells tells Darren Wolfson of 1500ESPN.com. Turner played poorly last season after being shipped to Indiana at the trade deadline.
The matter of whether Mike Miller will re-sign with the Grizzlies will likely come down to contract length rather than salary, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who writes in subscription-only piece. Memphis wants him back on a two-year deal, but Miller is pushing for three or four seasons.
Rockets GM Daryl Morey has been in contact with Paul Pierce‘s representatives at Excel Sports Management, but it’s unlikely the veteran forward ends up in Houston, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.

Alex Lee and Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

Western Notes: Mavs, Dirk, Calathes, Woodson

July 9th, 2014 at 7:57pm CST by Cray Allred

The Mavs‘ top three free agent targets for next summer are LaMarcus Aldridge, Marc Gasol, and Kevin Love, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas. Here’s more from out West:

Dirk Nowitzki has already agreed to re-sign with the Mavs at a discounted rate, but Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the Rockets have a standing max offer with the future Hall-of-Famer.
Nick Calathes says he hasn’t asked the Grizzlies to release him, even though it would be to his financial benefit if they did, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal details. He’s on a non-guaranteed contract for the minimum salary this season, and the team seemingly intends to keep him, Two European teams loom with three-year, $6.5MM offers, but Calathes is undecided about whether he prefers to remain with the Grizzlies or sign overseas, as he tells Tillery. “Once you see a big offer on the table you’re going to think about it,” Calathes said. “You think about it always. That kind of money obviously can change your life. I’m playing the game I love so I’m real blessed. Whichever way it goes, I’m going to be happy.”
Mike Woodson will return to the bench next season as a member of Doc Rivers‘ assistant coaching staff with the Clippers, tweets Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Since being fired by the Knicks at the close of this past season, Woodson has maintained his interest in returning to the bench, but hadn’t been linked with any teams seeking a head coach this offseason.
Chris Mannix of SI.com suggests that patience on the part of the Wolves could pay off regarding Love, as additional suitors with better assets could surface once the biggest free agent movements are done (via Twitter).

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

And-Ones: Union, Celtics, Blatche, Diawara

July 8th, 2014 at 3:31pm CST by Chuck Myron

The players union is worried that teams like the Heat are trying to strong-arm players into making financial sacrifices by triggering hard caps with the use of the non-taxpayer’s mid-level and bi-annual exceptions, as Grantland’s Zach Lowe explains. Clubs can’t exceed the tax apron, the line $4MM above the tax threshold, if they use either the larger mid-level or the bi-annual. Ron Klempner, the interim executive director for the union, argues that such teams can eschew those exceptions and find ways that don’t trigger a hard cap to accommodate contracts for the players they want.

“Teams are being exposed for what they are doing,” Klempner told Lowe. “It has been laid bare. They are hiding behind the rules. Teams like the Heat have the ability to bring back all their players, and give them raises, but they are choosing to go in another direction.”

Here’s more from around the league:

The Celtics remain on the lookout for players who will appeal to the Wolves in hopes that Minnesota will agree to a deal that sends Kevin Love to Boston, as Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe details.
The Raptors will meet Wednesday with free agent Andray Blatche, tweets Chris Broussard of ESPN.com.
Former NBA swingman Yakhouba Diawara is working out for the Raptors today in hopes of a comeback, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (Twitter link).
Sixers second-round pick Vasilije Micic is staying overseas and won’t sign with Philadelphia for this season, reports Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Micic went 52nd overall last month.
Janis Timma, the 60th pick in last year’s draft, will also stay overseas this coming season rather than sign with the Grizzlies, who hold his rights, as Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal writes in a subscription-only piece.
The Jazz, Rockets and Warriors all recently auditioned Tyler Honeycutt, but the former Kings small forward has signed a two-year deal with Russia’s Khimki Moscow, the team announced (translation via Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia).

Grizzlies To Invite Wilbekin, White To Camp

July 8th, 2014 at 12:13pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Grizzlies will invite Scottie Wilbekin and Okaro White to training camp, according to Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal, who writes in a subscription-only piece. White, a forward from Florida State, and Wilbekin, a point guard from Florida, both went undrafted last month. It doesn’t appear as though either stands much of a chance of making the team’s opening night roster, as Tillery says the Grizzlies’ hopes involve the pair winding up with their D-League affiliate, but it sounds like they’ll at least receive the opportunity.

Wilbekin was the 50th-ranked senior on Jonathan Givony’s DraftExpress rankings, while White checked in at No. 67. Both are on the Grizzlies summer league roster for this week in Orlando, while Wilbekin will also suit up for the Sixers in the Las Vegas summer league.

If both accept the invitations and sign summer contracts, they’d be on non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals that wouldn’t count against the cap unless they made the opening night roster. NBA teams can reserve the D-League rights of three players who fail to make the cut out of training camp each fall, and it seems Memphis has two such slots earmarked for the Sunshine State duo.

Southwest Notes: Deng, Ariza, Mavs, Stokes

July 7th, 2014 at 7:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Mavs have no intention of giving Luol Deng a deal in the $12-$14MM range, writes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com. They have significant concerns about the 29-year-old’s durability after years of him being a workhorse for Chicago and dealing with back and Achilles tendon issues recently. They value him as a versatile, tenacious defender with a career scoring average of 16 points per game, but his subpar 3-point shooting isn’t ideal for a Dallas team that is short on long-distance threats. Here’s more out of the Southwest:

Should Dallas fail to land Carmelo Anthony, Trevor Ariza is arguably the best fit for the Mavs out of any of their Plan B targets, contends MacMahon in a separate piece.
Bulls exec Brian Hagen is now on the shortlist in the Grizzlies‘ search for a new front office addition, reveals Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Hagen joins Brooklyn’s Bobby Marks, New York’s Mark Warkentien, and Indiana’s Peter Dinwiddie as candidates for the job.
Grizzlies second-round pick Jarnell Stokes will probably wait to sign his deal so that Memphis can figure things out in free agency first, writes Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal. The former Tennessee standout spoke with Hoops Rumors earlier this offseason about his skillset and career goals.
Despite hitting a few snags during negotiations, the Spurs announced that they’ve signed Bryce Cotton to a minimum-salary deal, and the Grizzlies confirmed that Zach Randolph has inked an extension to remain in Memphis.

Charlie Adams contributed to this post.

Zach Randolph Signs Extension With Grizzlies

July 7th, 2014 at 6:18pm CST by Chuck Myron

JULY 7th: Memphis has officially confirmed Randolph’s signing via press release.

JUNE 30TH: It’s official – Randolph delivered his $16.5MM player option to Memphis today and inked his two-year, $20MM extension, a league source tells Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter).

JUNE 27TH: The Grizzlies and Zach Randolph have struck a deal on a two-year, $20MM extension, agent Raymond Brothers confirms to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Ronald Tillery of The Commercial Appeal was the first to report that the two sides had reached an agreement (Twitter link). Randolph is opting in to his contract as a part of the arrangement, Wojnarowski writes. He’ll collect more than $16.9MM in salary for next season as a part of his existing deal, and the extension will kick in for 2015/16.

Negotiations had reportedly hit a snag over money earlier this week, but the talks otherwise seemed to indicate momentum toward a deal. The extension will keep Randolph from free agency, where it appeared as though the 32-year-old would have been able to command a three-year, $30-35MM deal from Memphis or other suitors. He was 10th in the most recent edition of the Hoops Rumors Free Agent Power Rankings.

Randolph spoke on multiple occasions within the past year of his affection for Memphis, and it seemed like GM Chris Wallace‘s reinstatement as the head of the team’s basketball department made those feelings mutual between the team and the power forward. Former CEO Jason Levien had been a fan of backup Ed Davis and reportedly made at least two attempts to trade Randolph. Randolph’s new deal casts the future of Davis in limbo as he’s set to enter restricted free agency.

The Grizzlies will likely be over the cap entering free agency next week, as they’ll have more than $65.9MM in guaranteed salary for 2014/15 with Randolph opting in. The Grizzlies will have about $35MM in salary on the books entering July 2015, when Marc Gasol is set to hit free agency.