Latest On Norris Cole
Norris Cole sees the prospect of signing his qualifying offer of more than $3.037MM from the Pelicans as a viable option, a league source tells Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops, who writes amid a roundup on the top remaining free agents. The Sixers have interest, as Scotto reported two weeks ago, but it’s unclear how far that interest extends, as Scotto writes in his latest piece.
The Pelicans are apparently only willing to go so far themselves, so it’s not a shock that Cole would consider the chance to take the one-year qualifying offer and hit unrestricted free agency next summer, when the cap is set to surge to a projected $89MM. The market for the Rich Paul client has seemed cool this summer compared to the weeks leading up to the February trade deadline, when Wizards, Thunder, Bucks and Cavs all reportedly had interest before the Pelicans acquired him from the Heat in the three-team Goran Dragic trade.
Anthony Davis said Monday that he hopes Cole is back with the Pelicans, as John Reid of The Times Picayune notes (Twitter link). New Orleans let the deadline for teams to unilaterally withdraw qualifying offers pass last week, a signal that the Pelicans maintain at least some level of interest, and indeed, Reid has consistently heard that’s the case. The Pelicans have been carrying 13 deals and are well below the $84.74MM tax threshold, so they have flexibility. Another key date looms Saturday, when the minimum salary for Toney Douglas would go from non-guaranteed to fully guaranteed if he remains under contract through that day.
Do you think Cole would be wise to take the qualifying offer? Leave a comment to let us know.
Pelicans Sign Kendrick Perkins
JULY 28TH, 11:13pm: The deal is official, the Pelicans announced.
JULY 21ST, 6:49pm: The Pelicans and unrestricted free agent Kendrick Perkins are in the process of finalizing a contract agreement, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter links). It will be a one-year pact for the veteran’s minimum, Stein adds.
The Clippers, Rockets, and Knicks had all expressed interest in the 30-year-old center. Instead, Perkins will add depth and grit behind starter Omer Asik, who re-signed with New Orleans this offseason for five years and approximately $60MM.
Perkins appeared in a combined 68 games for the Thunder and the Cavaliers, averaging 4.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for OKC and 2.6 PPG and 2.4 RPG for Cleveland. His career numbers through 12 NBA seasons are 5.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, and 1.2 BPG to go along with a slash line of .530/.000/.597.
Latest On Carlos Boozer
The Knicks, Rockets and Mavericks continue to have interest in signing Carlos Boozer, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Scotto first identified the Knicks as among the teams eyeing the Rob Pelinka client earlier this month, though Marc Berman of the New York Post reported soon thereafter that the Knicks had engaged in internal conversations about him but hadn’t made a formal pursuit. Chris Broussard of ESPN.com pegged the Mavs and Rockets as among the teams in on Boozer just before free agency began, while Broussard later heard that the Mavs were one of four teams in talks with the former All-Star.
The Knicks and Mavericks have access to the $2.814MM room exception. The Rockets are in a tough spot, since they only have roughly $2.3MM left on their mid-level exception to spend but would trigger a hard cap if they gave any of it to Boozer. Houston also has No. 32 pick Montrezl Harrell who remains unsigned.
Several other teams, including the Clippers, Spurs, Raptors, Pelicans, Nuggets, Nets, Lakers and Heat, have reportedly been interested in Boozer over the last month, but it’s unclear if any of them remain in the mix. Boozer and the Clippers reportedly had mutual interest.
Larry Drew II To Play In France
Larry Drew II has signed a deal with AS Monaco Basket in France, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com (Twitter link). The point guard played for the Pelicans in this year’s summer league.
Drew II signed two 10-day contracts with the Sixers in January of last season, but was not re-signed for the remainder of the year. Philadelphia was pleased with the production it received from the University of California product, but the team didn’t want to tie up an additional roster spot before the trade deadline.
“Flexibility,” coach Brett Brown said last season when asked why the team didn’t sign Drew for the rest of the 2014/15 campaign. “The trade deadline is coming up, and we need flexibility. We may see [Larry] again. Who knows? What I do know is he was an ‘A’. He did everything and some, and it doesn’t prohibit us from revisiting him [in the future] at all.”
The 25-year-old has shown play-making ability, but his inconsistent jumper needs improvement if he is going to have a career in the NBA. He averaged 3.8 points and 3.8 assists while shooting 15.4% from behind the arc during his 12 games as a Sixer last year.
Western Notes: Mejri, Asik, Jordan, Suns
The Mavericks have made a three-year offer to Tunisian center Salah Mejri, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The 7’1″ Mejri didn’t see much playing time last season with Real Madrid, but Dallas wants to find out if he can succeed at the NBA level. Mejri has the physical tools, according to David Pick of Eurobasket.com, who cites his energy, mobility and “giraffe length” (Twitter link). Mejri was recently released by Real Madrid and is reportedly leaning toward trying the NBA.
There’s more news from the Western Conference:
- Back spasms will prevent the Pelicans‘ Omer Asik from competing for the Turkish team in Eurobasket 2015, according to John Reid of The Times Picayune. Even though he has to miss the September competition, there are no worries that the back problem will affect Asik when the Pelicans open camp. The center recently signed a five-year, $58MM deal to remain in New Orleans, although only the first four seasons are guaranteed at nearly $45MM.
- The Clippers‘ DeAndre Jordan knows it will take time for the controversy surrounding his free agency change of heart to die down, writes Dan Woike of The Orange County Register. Jordan, who committed to the Mavericks before staying in Los Angeles, understands the hard feelings in Dallas. “It’s absolutely not behind me,” he said. “I think over time, it will be. Just, there are people making this out like I committed some huge crime, like I’m an enemy of the state.” Jordan said he chose the Clippers because he wants to be associated with just one team during his NBA career.
- The Suns‘ offseason moves could make them a dark horse playoff contender in the West, according to Cody Taylor of Basketball Insiders. The addition of Tyson Chandler gives the team a rim protector and a veteran leader, Taylor writes. Also, the trade that sent Marcus Morris, Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger to the Pistons cleared more than $8MM in cap room and created more playing time for T.J. Warren and Archie Goodwin, who both were impressive in summer league play.
Southwest Notes: Curry, Fredette, McDaniels
The competition in the Western Conference is fierce, and Rockets GM Daryl Morey acknowledges that even in the wake of the Ty Lawson trade, his team isn’t the favorite, as Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle relays. Still, the Rockets made a key step forward, as Feigen examines.
“People always used to say our point guard position was terrible, the worst, whatever,” Morey said. “I always pointed out that Pat Beverley was a really good player. He’s just maybe suffering compared to all these perennial All-Stars we go against in the West. Obviously, we’re still going to be going against those very difficult All-Stars, but Ty Lawson is somebody who gives you a top-10 point guard in the league, somebody who can really help us.”
Here’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The Pelicans only made a “token offer” to Seth Curry that included a partial guarantee, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link). A previous report indicated that they were close to a deal with him for a guaranteed contract. Curry signed a two-year, fully guaranteed contract with the Kings.
- New Orleans didn’t want to re-sign Jimmer Fredette, Wojnarowski says in the same tweet. The ex-Pelicans guard signed with the Spurs instead. Still, Fredette faces a challenge to find his niche in San Antonio, where he’ll have to prove he’s capable of replacing Marco Belinelli‘s shooting and beat out Kyle Anderson and Jonathon Simmons for minutes, as Jay Yeomans of the Deseret News examines.
- The three-year contract that K.J. McDaniels signed with the Rockets includes a team option on the final season and starts at $3.19MM, tweets Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders. That first-year salary figure means Houston is essentially prevented from using any more of its mid-level exception without triggering an $88.74MM hard cap.
- Maurice Ndour‘s contract with the Mavericks is for three years, with this season’s salary and half of next season’s guaranteed, league sources tell Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
- Nikola Milutinov, this year’s No. 26 overall pick, is negotiating with Olympiacos of Greece, sources tell Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Spurs draftee had reportedly been close to a deal with Panathinaikos, another Greek team, but Panathinaikos landed Miroslav Raduljica instead. Regardless, the Spurs won’t sign him this season.
Southwest Notes: Lawson, McCallum, Pelicans
Rockets GM Daryl Morey isn’t shy about gambling, and he acknowledges that trading four players for troubled point guard Ty Lawson carries with it some potential pitfalls, Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com writes. “I think when you’re trying to get the best team out of 30, you got to take risk all over the place,” Morey said. “Again, it’s a playing risk, injury risk, character risk. We feel Ty is someone we wanted to add to our team.”
With Houston badly in need of a playmaker at the point, Morey believes he has filled that need with Lawson, Watkins notes. “He’s one of the best playmakers in the league,” Morey continued. “If you look at the leaderboard for assists in the last few years or since he’s been in the league, he’s near the top. I think, as we saw, especially when [Harden] played a couple of teams last year, we struggle against teams that really load on James Harden, and we feel Ty will be a lot more difficult for teams to do that.”
Here’s more out of the Southwest Division:
- Recent Spurs trade acquisition Ray McCallum‘s minimum salary of $947,276 became fully guaranteed when San Antonio didn’t waive him by the end of Monday, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes (Twitter link). It had been partially guaranteed for $200K, as the schedule of salary guarantee dates shows.
- The Pelicans are looking into establishing their own D-League franchise, John Reid of The Times Picayune writes. New Orleans GM Dell Demps acknowledged the franchise’s interest in the D-League, but he didn’t know the exact time frame for the process, Reid adds. ”A couple of years ago, we did not do it because our players were so young and growing and we figured we just throw them into the fire,” Demps said. ”But that is the next step for us. We’re looking at some options right now on the Gulf Coast and in the state of Louisiana. So we’re looking into that. We have some plans to add our own D-League team.”
- Danny Green surprised some when he elected to re-sign with the Spurs with a four-year, $45MM deal when numerous teams had expressed interest in his services, and he likely could have earned more elsewhere. But Green believes his annual salary is in line with his production, Dan McCarney of The San Antonio Express-News notes (Twitter links). “People keep saying that I took less. I think I took what I was worth,” said Green. Though, to get his full market value, Green would have likely had to go to a team like the Pistons or the Kings, who certainly don’t offer as good a chance to contend as San Antonio does, McCarney adds. The Pistons, Mavericks, Blazers, Knicks and the Kings, who’d reportedly made Green their top target, all had some degree of interest in the swingman.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Southwest Notes: Gee, Cunningham, Barea, Spurs
The Pelicans used a portion of their mid-level exception to sign Alonzo Gee and Dante Cunningham, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders passes along (on Twitter). Gee will earn $1.32MM this season, while Cunningham will take home a bit more at $2.85MM. That means New Orleans still has $1.294MM of its mid-level exception remaining and 10 guaranteed contracts on the books. We’ve got more contract details in tonight’s look at the Southwest Division:
- The front-loaded deal J.J Barea inked with the Mavericks will pay him slightly more than $16MM over four years, as Pincus reveals in his updated Dallas salary page. He’ll earn $4.29MM this season, $4,096,950 the following year, $3,903,900 in year three, and $3,710,850 during the 2018/19 season. The Mavs upped the Puerto Rican guard’s yearly salaries after missing out on DeAndre Jordan.
- It has been a busy offseason in San Antonio, and the most overlooked move that the Spurs have made is the addition of 7’3” center Boban Marjanovic, as David Pick details for Bleacher Report. Marjanovic was a relative unknown prior to last season, but his efficient play and massive size netted him some lucrative offers from European teams that he turned down in favor of the Spurs, as Pick relays.
- LaMarcus Aldridge, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, David West, and Danny Green all have player options in the final years of their contracts, as Pincus notes on his updated Spurs salary page.
Pelicans Re-Sign Luke Babbitt
JULY 20TH, 11:01am: The signing is official, the team announced.
JULY 9TH, 10:13pm: The Pelicans and unrestricted free agent Luke Babbitt are finalizing a deal that would bring the forward back to New Orleans, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). The pact is for two years, and valued in the $2.5MM range, Stein adds.
Babbitt made 63 appearances for the Pelicans last season, including 19 starts. He notched averages of 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.4 assists in 13.2 minutes per contest. His shooting numbers were .479/.513/.684. Through five NBA seasons split between the Blazers and Pelicans, Babbitt’s numbers are 4.2 PPG, 2.1 RPG, and 0.5 APG, with a slash line of .401/.403/.722.
The 26-year-old was the No. 16 overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, and played his college ball at the University of Nevada.
And-Ones: Gallinari, Belinelli, Jazz, Harrellson
Danilo Gallinari confirmed to Italian media that he and the Nuggets are discussing an extension, as Dario Vismara of Rivista Ufficiale NBA tweets (translation via Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi). Christopher Dempsey of The Denver Post reported last week that the team intended to begin talks. The Nuggets can open about $6MM in cap room if they waive both Pablo Prigioni and Kostas Papanikolaou, whom they’re reportedly about to acquire in the deal for Ty Lawson, as former Nets executive Bobby Marks points out (on Twitter). They could use the cap room to give Gallinari a renegotiation and extension, as they did with Wilson Chandler, a maneuver that would be more lucrative for Gallinari than a simple extension. While we wait to see if that’s the route the Nuggets take, here’s more from around the NBA:
- The Pelicans, Knicks, Clippers, Lakers, Spurs and Warriors all made offers to Marco Belinelli, who instead signed with the Kings, as he said at the same gathering of Italian media, Vismara notes (Twitter link).
- The salary cap is set to surge next summer, but the 2016 free agent class doesn’t have much depth beyond Kevin Durant and LeBron James, leaving many teams with a conundrum as they face the prospect of a salary floor of some $81MM, as Marks examines for HoopsHype.
- A work stoppage in 2017 is a “virtual certainty,” an executive from a team recently told Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com, in spite of commissioner Adam Silver’s suggestion to the contrary. Teams are worried that the new TV revenue somehow won’t allow them to keep up with surging payrolls, and clubs that have traditionally relied on revenue sharing figure to take a hit with fewer teams in line to pay into the luxury tax in seasons to come, as Arnovitz details.
- The Jazz are drawing raves from coaches and GM around the league for their home-grown approach to rebuilding and hesitance to sign mid-tier free agents who’d only help the team make incremental gains, Arnovitz writes in the same piece.
- Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press tells the story of a handful of summer leaguers who carry divergent credentials, including three-year NBA veteran Josh Harrellson, who’s willing to be flexible as he tries to make it back to the NBA now that he’s recovered from a career-threatening back injury. “I think I’ll get a camp invite,” Harrellson said. “My main goal is to get a contract out of this. Even if it’s a partial [guarantee], just something.”