New Orleans Pelicans Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Rumors: Anderson, Pargo, Miles

July 16th, 2012 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rockets have arguably been the Southwest team in the news most often this month, as they've pursued restricted free agents and continued to try to land a superstar like Dwight Howard via trade. For now though, Daryl Morey and the Rockets are playing the waiting game, as they wait to see whether the Knicks will match their offer sheet for Jeremy Lin. In the meantime, here are a few updates on Houston's division rivals….

Odds & Ends: Fields, Scola, Blazers, Gordon

July 14th, 2012 at 12:41pm CST by Zachary Links

The Knicks’ deadline to match Landry Fields’ 3-year, $18.7MM offer sheet from the Raptors is tonight at 11pm CDT. If they match Lin and Fields, the Knicks will have roughly $86MM committed to those two plus Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, and Tyson Chandler for the 2014-15 season, tweets Al Iannazzone of Newsday. Include Jason Kidd and Steve Novak and it’s more than $92MM committed to seven players. The luxury tax penalties really start to get stiff in 2013/14 and that could make the Knicks' decision on Fields a difficult one. Here's more from around the Association..

T-Wolves Waive Webster, Trade Miller To Hornets

July 13th, 2012 at 5:48pm CST by Luke Adams

5:48pm: The Timberwolves have also traded Brad Miller and two second round picks to the Hornets for a future second round pick, the team announced today.

4:15pm: The Timberwolves have released Martell Webster, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). Webster's contract for 2012/13 was only partially guaranteed, so most of his $5.7MM salary will come off Minnesota's books. Assuming he clears waivers, Webster will become an unrestricted free agent and can sign with any team.

Hornets, Clippers Talk Belinelli Sign-And-Trade

July 13th, 2012 at 11:13am CST by Luke Adams

The Clippers have interest in Marco Belinelli, but having already committed their full mid-level exception to Jamal Crawford, don't have a ton of cap flexibility to sign him. As such, the Clips have discussed the possibility of a sign-and-trade deal with the Hornets, as we heard from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Ramona Shelburne earlier this week. However, according to John Reid of the Times Picayune, the Hornets aren't interested in L.A.'s offer of Ryan Gomes and a second-round pick.

Griffin Injured During Team USA Scrimmage, Davis Recalled

July 12th, 2012 at 10:15pm CST by Ryan Raroque

10:15pm: Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times reports that the injury is a meniscal tear that will require arthroscopic surgery.

9:15pm: Yahoo's Marc J. Spears says that although Blake is done with the Olympics, he should be ready for training camp (Twitter link).

4:32pm: Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweeted earlier that Blake Griffin hurt his knee during a scrimmage with Team USA and will return to Los Angeles for further examination by team doctors. Just yesterday, Griffin signed a five-year maximum extension to remain with the Clippers.

Team USA officials have summoned Anthony Davis back to Las Vegas immediately to fill in as Griffin's replacement, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter).

Odds & Ends: Nets, Villanueva, Warriors, Bulls

July 12th, 2012 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

As busy as the Nets have been so far this month, we haven't heard much out of majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov. That changed today, however, as Prokhorov released an official statement discussing the team's offseason:

"I'm thrilled with the way our team has come together. My congratulations and appreciation go out to general manager Billy King, assistant general manager Bobby Marks and head coach Avery Johnson for their tenacity, nerve and heart throughout this process. With the re-signing of Deron Williams and the trade for Joe Johnson, we go into our new home led by an All-Star backcourt and with every hope of a great season for the Brooklyn Nets. I can't wait until opening night."

While Prokhorov starts counting down the days until opening night, we'll round up the rest of the morning's odds and ends right here:

Free Agent Rumors: Nets, Pacers, Green

July 11th, 2012 at 9:57pm CST by Luke Adams

The July moratorium came to an end late last night, and a number of teams didn't waste any time in finalizing moves. The Lakers' acquisition of Steve Nash was the first transaction to become official, followed closely by the Knicks' signing of J.R. Smith, Deron Williams' contract with the Nets, and Blake Griffin's five-year extension with the Clippers. We're expecting more deals to be formally announced today, but there are plenty of free agents still on the market too. We'll be tracking the latest news on those guys right here, with the newest items added to the top of the page throughout the day….

The Nets are considering Kenyon Martin and Craig Smith and discussing a sign-and-trade for Antawn Jamison, clouding Kris Humphries' future with the team, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).
The Pacers are targeting unrestricted free agent Gerald Green as their wing player off the bench, and are expected to offer him a three-year, $10MM contract, according to Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star. O.J. Mayo and Courtney Lee are out the team's price range at the moment (All Twitter links).

Earlier updates:

Warriors Acquire Jarrett Jack; Wright To Sixers

July 11th, 2012 at 9:27pm CST by Luke Adams

9:26pm: The deal has been finalized, according to a press release by the Warriors. The Warriors receive Jack from New Orleans, the Sixers receive Wright from Golden State and center Darryl Watkins from New Orleans, and the Hornets receive the rights to Bavcic from Philadelphia.

2:35pm: Marcus Thompson of the Bay Area News Group reports that the deal is getting close, but cautions that it's "fragile" and could fall apart. Still, Jack himself seems to acknowledge he'll be moved, tweeting: "Well new Orleans it's been real like to thank all the fans u treated me great during my time as a hornet. ‪#movingon."

Hornets Acquire Ryan Anderson In Sign-And-Trade

July 11th, 2012 at 10:40am CST by Michael Pina

WEDNESDAY, 10:40am: The Magic have officially announced the completion of the Anderson/Ayon sign-and-trade in a press release.

SUNDAY, 3:21pm: The Hornets will acquire Ryan Anderson in a sign-and-trade deal with the Magic, writes Yahoo! Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski. Once the moratorium ends, Anderson will agree to a four-year, $36MM deal with New Orleans, and the Magic will receive Hornets center Gustavo Ayon.

Offer Sheets To Watch

July 10th, 2012 at 3:38pm CST by Luke Adams

Restricted free agents that have agreed to sign offer sheets with new teams can begin doing so as soon as 11:00pm CST tonight. When a player officially signs an offer sheet, his old team has a three-day window to decide whether or not to match it and bring him back.

When a player formally signs an offer sheet, it means only two options are in play for him: He either ends up on the team whose offer he signed, or returns to his old club. Sign-and-trades are no longer an option. So, for restricted free agents like Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum, who seem to prefer to change teams, it may be worthwhile to explore sign-and-trade possibilities once more before locking into those offer sheets and putting their futures in the hands of the Hornets and Trail Blazers, respectively.

Here are a few restricted free agents that reportedly agreed to sign offer sheets whose situations are worth keeping an eye on:

Roy Hibbert
Current team: Pacers
Agreed to sign with: Trail Blazers
Terms: Four years, Maximum salary
It sounds as if Hibbert may not even ink an offer sheet with the Trail Blazers after all. With the Pacers planning to match the deal, it makes more sense for Hibbert to just sign outright with Indiana. That way, perhaps the team could tack on a non-guaranteed fifth year — at the very least, it would give the Pacers increased flexibility to try to improve the roster around him.

Eric Gordon
Current team: Hornets
Agreed to sign with: Suns
Terms: Four years, Maximum salary
It seems Gordon's clear preference is to play with the Suns. After agreeing to the team's offer sheet, he released a statement indicating that "Phoenix is where my heart is now," and later told the Times Picayune that if the Hornets match the offer, he'll play in New Orleans, but won't be happy about it. It's a tough spot for the Hornets, who clearly don't want to lose the primary piece of last year's Chris Paul trade, but also probably don't want an unhappy player in New Orleans long-term. Maybe these two teams could negotiate a sign-and-trade, but I'd expect the Hornets to simply match the Suns' offer sheet and hope Gordon warms to New Orleans. John Reid of the Times Picayune confirmed today that New Orleans is expected to match the offer.

Nicolas Batum
Current team: Trail Blazers
Agreed to sign with: Timberwolves
Terms: Four years, $45MM
While Batum, like Gordon, appears to want to move on from his current team, it seems Batum's agent Bouna Ndiaye is pushing that stance more than the player himself, as his comments over the weekend suggested. Still, Batum told David Aldridge of TNT today that Minnesota is where he wants to be. Batum also mentioned, interestingly, that the two teams are working on a possible sign-and-trade deal. According to one earlier report, the T-Wolves pitched a sign-and-trade deal involving Derrick Williams, but the Blazers weren't interested in a trade involving the younger, more affordable Williams. I wouldn't be surprised if Portland reconsiders that stance before all is said and done — a sign-and-trade that sends Batum to Minnesota and Williams to Portland could be a win-win for the involved teams and players alike.

Jeremy Lin
Current team: Knicks
Agreed to sign with: Rockets
Terms: Four years, $28.8MM (fourth-year team option)
We've already heard that the Knicks, predictably, are expected to match this offer sheet. Another team could have more pressure on New York with a more significant third-year raise and a guaranteed fourth year, so the Knicks will get off relatively easy when they match this offer.

Omer Asik
Current team: Bulls
Agreed to sign with: Rockets
Terms: Three years, $25.1MM
Here's a trickier case. The Bulls have said all year that they don't want to lose Asik and that they expect to match any offer for him, but Daryl Morey and the Rockets are making it difficult with a third-year salary of nearly $15MM. Still, I think there's a good chance the Bulls match this offer sheet. Asik's first- and second-year salaries are in the $5MM range, which is manageable, and allows the Bulls a couple seasons to figure out how to clear long-term salary off their books for 2014/15. This decision could easily go either way though.

Landry Fields
Current team: Knicks
Agreed to sign with: Raptors
Terms: Three years, $19MM
When Fields and the Raptors agreed to this offer sheet, it seemed like a savvy tactical move to block the Knicks from making a sign-and-trade deal for Steve Nash. Now, with Nash headed to Los Angeles, it just looks like an overpay. The Knicks are unlikely to match this one, so the Raptors are likely stuck with Fields, but that's not the end of the world for Toronto. Fields just turned 24, and while he experienced a bit of a sophomore slump in 2011/12, he still has the makings of a solid, if slightly overpriced, rotation player.

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