Odds & Ends: Magic, Smith, Haywood, Humphries
This year's amnesty period kicks off on Wednesday and this afternoon Larry Coon of ESPN.com (Insider sub. req'd) ran down his candidates for each of the 23 teams that did not use the provision last year. Among the most likely to go are Mike Miller of the Heat and Darko Milicic of the T'Wolves. After that, there are a number of "jump ball" candidates such as the Mavs' Brendan Haywood. The waiving of Haywood once seemed like a foregone conclusion but after striking out on Deron Williams, Dallas is no longer starved for cap room. Here's more from around the Association..
Free Agent Rumors: Wallace, Grizzlies, Fisher
We're into the home stretch of the July moratorium, and it won't be long before all the moves that have been agreed upon in the last week are made official. In the meantime, teams have two more days to prepare for the next stage of free agency, and the rumors continue to swirl. You can track all of the contract agreements to date using our Free Agent Tracker, and you can follow many of today's free agent rumors right here, with the latest up top….
- There's a "pretty good chance" that Ben Wallace will return to the Pistons next season, a source tells Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News.
- A source told The Commercial Appeal (via Twitter) that it's unlikely that the Grizzlies will sign Russian guard Alexey Shved. Shved allegedly received offers from the Grizzlies, Cavs, and T'Wolves.
- However, the Grizzlies are working to bring veteran guard Willie Green to Memphis, The Commercial Appeal tweets. The soon-to-be 31-year-old averaged 7.6 PPG last year for the Hawks.
Earlier updates:
Blazers Notes: Leonard, Batum, Barton
Earlier today, Portland General Manager Neil Olshey disclosed that he plans to move from the free agent market to the trade market as it appears that Roy Hibbert will be staying put in Indiana. Here's more on the Blazers..
Free Agent Rumors: Lucas, Camby, Lewis
Jeff Green reached an agreement to remain with the Celtics on Saturday, while Aaron Brooks became an unrestricted free agent after the Suns withdrew their qualifying offer to the guard. What will Sunday bring? Here are the latest rumors on a number of free agents still on the market:
- The Heat have interest in unrestricted free agent point guard John Lucas III, reports Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com.
- Marcus Camby's meeting with the Knicks today was "very positive," a source tells Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com, and Zwerling hears that Camby is drawn to the Knicks because of his "great relationship" with GM Glen Grunwald.
- "Everything went well" during the Heat's meeting with Rashard Lewis today, as Lewis' agent tells David Aldridge of TNT (Twitter link). Lewis has yet to make a decision, with the Knicks and Hawks still in the running, Aldridge says.
Earlier updates:
Kevin Love Urges Wolves To Upgrade Roster
Kevin Love tells Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports that if the Timberwolves don't starting winning more often this season, he isn't sure how long he'll want to remain in Minnesota.
"My patience is not high," said Love, in Las Vegas this week to practice with the U.S. Olympic team. "Would yours be, especially when I'm a big proponent of greatness surrounding itself with greatness? All these [Team USA] guys seem to have great players around them. It's tough seeing all these guys that are young and older who have all played in the playoffs. When they start talking about that, I have nothing to talk about. If I don’t make the playoffs next year I don’t know what will happen."
Latest On Jordan Hill
Unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill has not yet made his decision about where to sign, Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune reports via Twitter, despite Hill's cryptic tweet last night that seemed to indicate otherwise. There's no apparent timetable for a decision, as an agreement could be reached as early as tonight or a few weeks from now, Zgoda tweets.
Batum Wants To Move On From Portland
Despite averaging a career high in points (13.9), rebounds (4.6), blocks (1.0), and steals (1.0) last season, Nicolas Batum has expressed his desire to leave the Trail Blazers. He and his agent, Bouna N'Diaye, met with Portland GM Neil Olshey, scouting director Chad Buchanan, and capologist Joe Cronin on Thursday in an attempt to persuade the team not to match the Timberwolves' offer sheet, writes Chris Haynes of CNNSW.
Odds & Ends: Hinrich, Bulls, Meeks, Mayo, Tolliver
- Ersan Ilyasova plans to meet with Bucks owner Herb Kohl on Tuesday, which is seen as an important opportunity in the team's effort to retain the 6'10'' forward (Gery Woelfel of the Journal Times reports). Earlier this week, we reported that Milwaukee offered a deal worth around $40MM over five years.
Lawrence On Bird, Hibbert, Gordon, Brooks
Larry Bird was leaning toward a return as Pacers president, former Celtics teammates tell Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News, until owner Herb Simon nixed the idea of adding a scorer to the team during a meeting with Bird in late June, shortly before Bird resigned June 26th. Bird was considering an offer for Eric Gordon, Lawrence writes, but Simon, who has a net worth of $1.8 billion, doesn't want to pay the luxury tax. Though Indiana has only about $36MM in guaranteed salaries for next season, the Pacers likely couldn't have brought aboard Gordon, who's signed an offer sheet with the Suns for the maximum four years and $58MM, and retained all their free agents without becoming a tax team. Bird's concerns about his shoulder and back were also reasons he stepped down, but the 55-year-old NBA legend left the door open for a return to another team's front office. Lawrence has more from around the league, and we've got the highlights here:
Celtics Rumors: Stiemsma, Bradley, Cap
It's been a busy day in Boston, and that's not even counting the doubleheader between the Red Sox and Yankees. You can head over to MLB Trade Rumors for baseball news, but we've got the Celtics covered right here. Already today they've reached an agreement with Jeff Green, and we've heard that negotiations between C's restricted free agent big man Greg Stiemsma and the Timberwolves are on hold, perhaps allowing Boston a chance to woo him back. Stiemsma's agent, however, says his client prefers the Timberwolves and is willing to be patient with them, according to Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Here's more of what we're hearing: