- The Heat‘s free agent pitches will include the optimism of a return to action next season for big man Chris Bosh and the organizational stability provided by coach Erik Spoelstra, writes Michael Wallace of ESPN.com.
- The Heat continue to explore moving Josh McRoberts, but they may need to attach a future draft pick in such a deal, tweets Ethan J. Skolnick of The Miami Herald. McRoberts’ $5.782MM salary isn’t exorbitant for a player with his skill-set, but he’s coming off two poor seasons, both of which were shortened by injury issues.
- The Rockets, Heat, Warriors, and Spurs are among the teams with interest in Timofey Mozgov, joining the Cavaliers and Knicks, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com. Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today Sports adds (via Twitter) that the Lakers also could be in play for Mozgov, depending on how free agency plays out.
A report last weekend indicated that DeMar DeRozan doesn’t plan to take any meetings with teams besides the Raptors, and while that still may the case, there are other potential suitors looming. According to Chris Haynes of Cleveland.com (via Twitter), Toronto will get DeRozan’s first meeting on July 1st in Los Angeles, and it’s possible that sit-downs with the Heat, Mavericks, Sixers, and Lakers could follow.
The wording of Haynes’ report, which suggests that there’s no guarantee those rival suitors actually get meetings, doesn’t contradict what we heard over the weekend. That initial report, from Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, indicated that DeRozan doesn’t intend to take meetings with other teams, and would only do so if talks don’t go smoothly with the Raptors.
In other words, it still looks like the Raptors will have the opportunity to wrap things up with DeRozan shortly after free agency gets underway. If the two sides don’t find common ground, the Heat, Mavs, Sixers, and Lakers could enter the picture.
DeRozan, who was due to make $10.35MM in the final year of his deal, opted out of his contract earlier this month and will be in line for a significant raise. The 26-year-old made his second All-Star game this season while averaging a career-high 23.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest. DeRozan even improved his long-distance shooting to a respectable 33.8% from beyond the arc, then averaged 20.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game in the postseason as Toronto reached the Eastern Conference Finals before falling to the Cavaliers.
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.
8:17pm: Wade is trying to create bargaining leverage with Miami by putting out feelers to other teams, a league source tells Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com (ESPN Now link).
WEDNESDAY, 5:48pm: Wade’s representatives have reached out to the Spurs and the Mavericks to inform them that the shooting guard would potentially be interested in joining them were he to leave Miami, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com (audio link) relayed during an appearance on 790 AM today.
TUESDAY, 8:21pm: In what appears to be a repeat of last summer’s contract talks, the Heat and Dwyane Wade‘s initial discussions have failed to find a common ground thus far, and as a result, the guard is open to listening to offers from other teams, Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com relays. The franchise and Wade had several contentious weeks of contract discussions last year before they agreed on a one-year, $20MM deal for the 2015/16 campaign, the scribe adds. It’s unclear how far apart the two parties currently are on a new contract.
According to Windhorst’s sources, Wade’s representatives have made it known to multiple teams over the last several days that he will be testing the open market. However, some teams are skeptical about Wade being willing to leave Miami after 13 seasons and perhaps see his agent’s machinations as merely a bargaining tactic with the Heat, Windhorst notes.
“I hope that everything is quiet and works out the way I want it to,” Wade said after the season came to a close. “But I have no control over that, as much as people might think. It’s a lot of moving parts in free agency. I’m not worried about it.”
Wade, 34, is coming off a solid campaign that saw him remain virtually healthy for the majority of the season. He appeared in 74 games and averaged 19.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 30.5 minutes per outing while shooting .456/.159/.793 from the field.
- 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).
- A Tuesday report suggested that Dwyane Wade is open to talking to teams besides the Heat in free agency, since discussions with Miami haven’t progressed so far. However, a source who spoke to Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel downplayed concerns about those negotiations, confirming that the two sides have indeed had preliminary talks so far.
Dwight Howard has begun to formally schedule meetings with potential suitors, according to Marc Stein and Chris Broussard of ESPN.com, who report that the free agent center is set to meet with the Hawks and the Celtics when the recruiting period gets underway. Howard will likely meet with as many as five teams, with the Heat among the other teams to show “preliminary interest,” per the ESPN duo.
Howard, 30, declined his 2016/17 player option with the Rockets, opting to hit the open market in July instead. Howard would have earned more than $23MM had he exercised his option, and while it remains to be seen if he’ll match that ’16/17 figure on his new deal, there’s no shortage of teams with interest, and the eight-time All-Star should have no problem landing a multiyear contract.
Stein reported on Tuesday that Atlanta would seriously consider Howard as a free agent target if the team was unable to wedge its way into the Kevin Durant sweepstakes. According to Stein, the Hawks would go after Howard with the idea of playing him alongside Al Horford in their frontcourt. Of course, Horford himself is a free-agent-to-be and he’s not a lock to re-sign with the Hawks, so Howard could also represent a viable replacement at center for Atlanta.
As for the Celtics, they have a ton of cap room and have been linked to a handful of free agent centers, including Horford and Hassan Whiteside. The Heat, meanwhile, could enter the Howard derby if Whiteside departs in free agency.
Besides Atlanta, Boston, and Miami, some of the teams that have been mentioned as possible suitors for Howard this summer include the Bucks, the Trail Blazers, the Hornets, the Knicks, and even the Rockets, who reportedly tried to encourage D12 to opt in for 2016/17. However, Stein and Broussard indicate a reunion between Howard and the Rockets is unlikely.
Howard’s time in Houston probably can’t be considered a huge success, despite the fact that the Rockets made the Western Conference Finals in his second year with the franchise. The former first overall pick was never really a perfect complement for star shooting guard James Harden, and saw his involvement in the team’s offense decline during the past two seasons. Howard made 71 appearances for the Rockets in 2015/16, averaging 13.7 points, 11.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.63 blocks in 32.1 minutes per game. He shot 62% from the field, but just 48.9% from the free-throw line.
The prevailing wisdom heading into free agency has suggested that Kevin Durant is likely to sign a two-year contract with a second-year player option this summer. After all, opting out a year from now and signing a long-term deal at that point figures to be the best way for the star forward to maximize his earnings.
Still, we’ve heard whispers that Durant may prefer to simply sign a long-term pact now to avoid having free agency looming over him for another year, and Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders cites sources close to the former MVP who echo that sentiment. According to Kyler, Oklahoma City remains the frontrunner for Durant, but the free-agent-to-be will hear out and consider all his suitors, and could make a long-term commitment to the team he signs with, whether that’s the Thunder or another club.
Here’s more from Kyler on a few of this summer’s top free agents:
- Mike Conley is expected to listen to some free agent pitches, but will likely give the Grizzlies the last word, writes Kyler. Conley would like to see Memphis be aggressive about adding talent to fortify the roster if he’s going to return. If the veteran point guard decides to go elsewhere, the Mavericks, Rockets, Spurs, and even the Nets are among his potential landing spots, per Kyler.
- The Lakers, Mavericks, Celtics, and Hornets are some of the teams expected to make a push for Hassan Whiteside if the Heat waver on offering him a max contract, says Kyler.
- Kyler identifies the Heat as a potential dark horse in the Al Horford sweepstakes, if Whiteside does leave Miami. Horford is believed to be the next target on the team’s wish list, and that interest may be mutual, Kyler writes.
- There’s mutual interest between Rajon Rondo and the Nets, who could be the favorites to land the point guard. However, according to Kyler, Rondo wouldn’t want to be Brooklyn’s only high-profile addition this summer, so the Nets might have to make a commitment to another notable free agent if they hope to lure Rondo.
- Dwight Howard could end up being a primary target this offseason for teams like the Bucks, Trail Blazers, and Hornets, who aren’t necessarily expected to get involved with many top-tier free agents, per Kyler. Sources close to Howard and the Magic indicate to Kyler that the odds of D12 returning to Orlando are slim, despite the fact that the team expects to be active on the open market.
- Kyler adds the Lakers and Grizzlies to the list of teams with interest in Ryan Anderson, and notes that there’s mutual interest between Anderson and the Wizards. Sources also tell Kyler that Anderson would prefer to land with a playoff team.