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Western FA Rumors: Gay, Wolves, Rondo, Kings

July 2nd, 2017 at 12:16am CST by Luke Adams

Thunder big man Enes Kanter created a stir on Twitter earlier tonight when he published a photo that showed neighboring lockers featuring Russell Westbrook‘s and Rudy Gay‘s nameplates. While Gay was in Oklahoma City meeting with the Thunder today, Kanter’s tweet doesn’t mean the two sides have an agreement in place, according to Royce Young of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Young says that league sources were confident as of Friday night that OKC was in a strong position with Gay, adding that the Thunder made a “strong impression” during Saturday’s meeting (Twitter link).

With no deal in place yet, Gay continues to draw interest from other teams. Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News tweets that the Timberwolves remain on the lookout for a free agent who can play power forward and shoot, and gave Gay a call today. Wolfson classifies the contact as “just a check-in call,” however.

Here are more free agent rumors from around the Western Conference:

Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link) has heard that Rajon Rondo would have interest in joining the Clippers. As Kennedy notes, Rondo has friends on the team and has a history with Doc Rivers from their Boston days.
In a separate tweet, Alex Kennedy passes along an update on free agent big man Thomas Robinson, reporting that the Timberwolves have expressed some interest in the former lottery pick.
The Kings are “very interested” in signing Zach Randolph, league sources tell Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee. Sacramento saw a pair of its free agent targets land elsewhere late on Saturday night, as Andre Iguodala committed to the Warriors and P.J. Tucker agreed to sign in Houston. The Kings had offered Iguodala a two-year deal in the range of $16MM annually, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today.
With other restricted free agents set to receive larger offers, Suns center Alex Len may be a more attainable target for teams, and is discussing scenarios with a few potential suitors, tweets Shams Charania of The Vertical.

Suns No Longer Pursuing Millsap; Nuggets May Be Favorites

July 1st, 2017 at 5:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Suns will no longer pursue Hawks power forward Paul Millsap, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com.

Phoenix has opted to use its available cap to take on salary dumps paired with assets, Wojnarowski adds. The Suns are committing to a youth movement are open to dealing any of the veterans on their roster.

The Nuggets, who have a meeting tonight with Millsap, may now be the favorites to sign him, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. The Timberwolves, who reportedly met or will meet with Millsap, may have also pulled out of the running, Aldridge suggests.

Gary Harris will be joining team president Josh Kroenke, president of basketball operations Tim Connelly and coach Michael Malone in their appeal to Millsap, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Denver is still open to re-signing Danilo Gallinari if its pursuit of Millsap doesn’t work out, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).

The Kings are another possibility, although Amick says they remain a long shot, at least for now (Twitter link).

Paul Millsap To Meet With Timberwolves

July 1st, 2017 at 10:22am CST by Luke Adams

Free agent big man Paul Millsap is set to meet with the Timberwolves today, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (via Twitter). It’s one of two reported meetings for Millsap, who is said to be sitting down with the Suns on Sunday.

Millsap, 32, would be a fascinating addition for a Timberwolves team that has already added Jimmy Butler this offseason and is poised to finalize a contract for point guard Jeff Teague as well. However, taking into account Butler’s salary and Teague’s three-year, $57MM agreement, it doesn’t appear Minnesota would be able to offer Millsap a max contract. Still, if the veteran big man decides he wants to join the Wolves, the team could dump some salary or Millsap could accept a more modest starting salary.

Minnesota was named in a Friday night report as a possible frontrunner with Millsap, along with the Nuggets. Phoenix and Sacramento are also believed to be in the mix for the four-time All-Star, who appears increasingly unlikely to return to Atlanta.

The Timberwolves are actively scouring the free agent market for roster reinforcements, according to Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News, who tweets that the team has also inquired on Justin Holiday.

Free Agent Rumors: Porter, Randolph, Millsap, Holiday

July 1st, 2017 at 2:57am CST by Arthur Hill

The Wizards‘ session with Otto Porter ended without an agreement, tweets David Aldridge of TNT. Porter plans to start meeting with other teams this weekend (Twitter link). That creates a potential opening for the Nets, who appear willing to offer the max of four years and $100MM, according to a post on NetsDaily. Philadelphia may also get involved, but the Sixers seem reluctant to make long-term offers. Washington has promised to match any offer for the restricted free agent.

There’s more late-night free agency news:

Aldridge has two more tidbits to pass along. The Cavaliers are interested in Grizzlies power forward Zach Randolph and plan to call him today (Twitter link). Also, Blake Griffin‘s decision to re-sign with the Clippers means the Suns will intensify their pursuit of Hawks forward Paul Millsap (Twitter link).
Jrue Holiday met with the Pelicans tonight, but no deal was reached, tweets Sam Amick of USA Today. The two sides are expected to get together again in the morning.
The new $201MM supermax contract that the Warriors gave to Stephen Curry doesn’t include a no-trade clause or a player option, according to Anthony Slater of The San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link).
Spurs forward Jonathon Simmons has gotten calls from the Kings, Clippers and Timberwolves and is ready to start holding meetings, according to Shams Charania of The Vertical (Twitter link).
In addition to Simmons, the Clippers plan to meet with Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari on Sunday and Jazz forward Joe Ingles this weekend, relays Brad Turner of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link).
There’s a strong chance that Celtics‘ power forward Amir Johnson will sign with the Sixers, a source tells Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Johnson has a history with Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo, who traded for him in 2009 as GM of the Raptors.
The Kings met tonight with Andre Iguodala and Patrick Patterson, according to Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).
The Timberwolves have put in a call to Ty Lawson as a possible backup for Jeff Teague, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. The Pelicans, Thunder and Kings have also been in contact with Lawson.
The Grizzlies are the latest team to show interest in Kings guard Ben McLemore, relays Chris Mannix of The Vertical (Twitter link).
The Knicks contacted Suns power forward Alan Williams tonight, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now. Williams fits New York’s goal of finding players who can contribute on both ends of the floor, Begley notes.

Free Agent Rumors: Redick, Ingles, Hayward, Gay

July 1st, 2017 at 12:39am CST by Arthur Hill

The first meeting for Clippers guard J.J. Redick was with the Sixers, posts Adrian Wojnarowski on ESPN Now. On ESPN’s television coverage, Wojnarowski said Philadelphia would like to convince Redick to accept a short-term contract, “a one-year deal at a very big number, $20 million-plus, potentially.” The Timberwolves and Nets are also expected to be contenders for Redick, and he has expressed interest in joining former Clippers teammate Chris Paul with the Rockets. Wojnarowski adds that there is no chance of Redick returning to L.A.

There’s more from the early hours of free agency:

Jazz forward Joe Ingles has received “serious interest” from the Magic and has three meetings scheduled for Saturday, tweets Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. Ingles will meet with the Utah delegation this weekend, according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link).
Heat center Hassan Whiteside has been actively recruiting Gordon Hayward to Miami, tweets Alex Kennedy of Hoops Hype. Whiteside will attend Hayward’s meeting with Heat officials on Saturday.
Kings forward Rudy Gay has four meetings set up over the next few days, Kennedy adds (Twitter link).
The Nuggets reached out to Utah’s George Hill during the first hour of free agency, posts Ian Begley on ESPN Now. Denver could create cap room to sign Hill by letting Danilo Gallinari leave, Begley notes.
The Mavericks had a “great call” with Nerlens Noel, tweets Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. Noel expressed a desire to re-sign with the team, but nothing has been finalized.
The Lakers made calls tonight to Andre Iguodala, Rajon Rondo and Ben McLemore., tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The Knicks and Bucks have also inquired about McLemore, according to Chris Haynes of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Latest On Paul Millsap

June 30th, 2017 at 11:05pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The competition to sign unrestricted free agent Paul Millsap is heating up. With the forward set to meet with the Suns on Sunday, and Phoenix reportedly gearing up to go after him hard, it appears two teams may have jumped ahead of them in his pecking order, Frank Isola of The New York Daily News relays (via Twitter). According to a source close to the player, the Timberwolves and the Nuggets are the current frontrunners to sign Millsap, per the scribe.

The Wolves are certainly an intriguing option after acquiring Jimmy Butler from the Bulls, though, the team is more in need of a point guard than another scoring forward at this time. Jeff Teague is reportedly set to join the franchise as an unrestricted free agent, and if he is indeed inked, adding Millsap may create complications on offense given Butler’s high usage rate and the continuing development of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins as scoring threats.

Denver would provide Millsap with more of an opportunity to shine individually, especially with the potential loss of Danilo Gallinari this summer, but they are a team further away from contention than the Wolves at this time.

In a fourth consecutive All-Star season last year, Millsap averaged a career high 18.1 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.

Knicks Believe Teague Has Committed To Wolves

June 30th, 2017 at 7:20pm CST by Austin Kent

According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, at least one front office believes Jeff Teague is so committed to the Timberwolves that it’s not worth pursuing a meeting. It’s been said that the Knicks have abandoned the idea of sitting down with the Pacers free agent altogether.

We wrote earlier about how Sam Amick of USA Today called Teague Minnesota’s “heavy, heavy favorite” target. Since that time, Chad Hartman of WCCO in Minneapolis has already gone so far as to say that the team and the point guard have a three-year deal in mind (via Dan Cook of WCCO).

While teams and players can’t officially negotiate until midnight EST, there has already been much speculation about who the Wolves will target now that they’ve sent Ricky Rubio to the Jazz.

Wolves Target Teague Among Other PG Options

June 30th, 2017 at 4:58pm CST by Austin Kent

Immediately after trading Ricky Rubio to the Jazz for a first-round pick, the Timberwolves have made Jeff Teague their favorite target available, Sam Amick of USA Today writes.

Of course that doesn’t necessarily mean the interest is mutual but there’s reason to believe that Minnesota has a pretty good idea of who their starting point guard will be in 2017/18.

Per Josh Lewenberg of TSN, the Timberwolves wouldn’t make the Rubio trade without knowing who their replacement would be. He speculates that it could be Kyle Lowry but notes that it would make more sense for the club to pursue Teague or George Hill.

If the decision did come between Teague and Lowry, Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News suggests that the 29-year-old Teague could have the upper hand over his 31-year-old counterpart with the flexibility to offer a shorter deal so that the Wolves could save money.

Another option that has been floated by Chris Mannix of Yahoo Sports is Rajon Rondo. Mannix notes that T-Wolves head coach Tom Thibodeau saw the best of Rondo during his stint with the Celtics.

As of now, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman notes, the only point guard on Minnesota’s roster is Tyus Jones

Wolves Trade Rubio To Jazz For First-Round Pick

June 30th, 2017 at 4:16pm CST by Austin Kent

4:22pm: The Jazz are able to absorb Rubio’s $13.6MM contract today, but only today. As of tomorrow, the official start of the 2017/18 campaign, a Rudy Gobert raise coupled with some cap holds would push Utah’s payroll higher.

4:16pm: Jon Krawczynski of the Associated Press has tweeted that the deal is done and awaiting league approval. The 2018 first-rounder from OKC will be Top-14 protected, ESPN’s Marc Stein says.

4:05pm: Jody Genessey of the Deseret News has relayed a report from Zone Sports Networks’ Spencer Checketts that Utah will send Oklahoma City’s first-round pick to Minnesota in exchange for Rubio.

4:00pm: Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets that the Rubio trade “is happening”, noting that the deal is close to being done. It hasn’t, however, been formally confirmed yet.

3:45pm: The Jazz and Timberwolves are actively discussing a deal in which Ricky Rubio would head to Utah, Shams Charania of The Vertical tweets.

It’s unclear what would be heading back to Minnesota in the exchange but the news that Rubio could be on the move isn’t exactly groundbreaking. Despite the fact that the Timberwolves have already traded away two point guards this month, Rubio’s name has been a mainstay in trade rumors since the Wolves drafted Kris Dunn last June.

Much can and has been inferred from the news of these ongoing Rubio negotiations. Zach Lowe of ESPN tweets that this could mean George Hill will be unlikely to return to Utah. If nothing else, he adds, it will give the team leverage in contract negotiations with the 31-year-old.

The deal also lends credence to a theory that the Timberwolves could be serious contenders to pursue Kyle Lowry. Tim Bontemps of the Washington Post echoed the sentiments of The Athletic’s Eric Koreen suggesting as much shortly after the negotiations were made public.

In a separate tweet, Eric Koreen says that, Minnesota unloading Rubio, coupled with revoking the Shabazz Muhammad‘s qualifying offer would free up about $32MM for the organization.

Free Agent Rumors: Warriors, Noel, Hill, Tucker

June 30th, 2017 at 2:37pm CST by Luke Adams

With free agency less than nine hours away, there’s no meeting scheduled between the Warriors and Andre Iguodala, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. However, as Lowe points out, that could change any minute and the two sides are still optimistic about Iguodala’s return.

Meanwhile, Dewayne Dedmon is on the Warriors’ radar once again this summer, according to Sam Amico of USA Today (Twitter link), who reports the Dedmon/Golden State connection is worth watching particularly if Iguodala leaves. Dedmon would be a candidate to receive some or all of Golden State’s mid-level exception, though it’s not clear yet which MLE the Warriors will have. The club could end up with the full MLE ($8.4MM), the taxpayer mid-level ($5.2MM), or the room exception ($4.3MM).

Let’s round up more notes and rumors on free agency from around the league…

The general sense around the NBA this year heading into free agency is that teams won’t be as aggressive and free-spending out of the gate as they were a year ago, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. As Shelburne observes (via Twitter), that’s creating some frustration for agents, since this year’s free agents want to be paid like last year’s were.
Nerlens Noel is receiving interest from several teams and won’t limit his discussions to the Mavericks, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.com, who hears from a source that Dallas is willing to pay “market value” for Noel (Twitter link). The big man is a restricted free agent, giving the Mavs the right of first refusal.
George Hill‘s preference is to remain with the Jazz, but the Spurs would be his second choice and the Timberwolves are “lurking,” says Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
The Raptors, Timberwolves, Nuggets, Kings, Sixers, and Clippers are among the teams expected to have interest in P.J. Tucker, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Toronto is schedule to meet with Tucker on Saturday, per Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
There’s still some mutual interest between the Kings and veteran point guard Ty Lawson, according to Jason Jones of The Sacramento Bee (via Twitter). If Lawson returns to Sacramento, his role may look a little different, with De’Aaron Fox now in the picture and Darren Collison potentially signing elsewhere.