Atlantic Rumors: Celtics, Crowder, Knicks, Buycks
In the wake of today’s trade with the Pistons that sends Avery Bradley to Detroit, the Celtics have no intention of moving Jae Crowder and have no “pressing” deals on the go, reports Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter links). Himmelsbach adds that Boston will look to use its room exception, and the team never rules out the possibility of more dealing, as Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald tweets. For now, though, nothing appears imminent.
One player who could be a candidate for the Celtics’ room exception is free agent center Dewayne Dedmon. Jabari Young of The San Antonio Express-News suggests (via Twitter) that he kept hearing at the Utah Summer League how intrigued the Celtics are by Dedmon. However, it’s not clear if that interest is mutual, particularly given Boston’s cap limitations.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- Asked today about the trade rumors surrounding Paul George, Pacers president Kevin Pritchard told reporters that the rumored offers from the Celtics and other teams were only about 5% correct (Twitter link via Matt Glenesk of The Indianapolis Star).
- The Knicks were impressed by guard Dwight Buycks‘ performance in Summer League and are interested in signing him to their offseason roster, sources tell Ian Begley of ESPN.com. Buycks helped lead the Mavericks’ squad to an Orlando Summer League title this week.
- The Knicks‘ offer sheet for Tim Hardaway Jr. includes the same advance salary structure as Otto Porter‘s deal with the Nets, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. Hardaway’s deal calls for 50% of his annual salary to be paid by October 1 annually.
- Veteran guard Sergio Rodriguez, who spent the season with the Sixers, prefers to remain in the NBA. However, CSKA Moscow is making a push to lure him back overseas, according to Nikos Varlas of Eurohoops. The Russian club lost Milos Teodosic to the Clippers in free agency.
Eastern Rumors: Nets, Hardaway, Hornets, Celtics
Before Rudy Gay signed with the Spurs, the Nets expressed interest in the veteran forward, having viewed him as a contingency plan in the event that the Wizards match their offer sheet for Otto Porter, reports Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
With Gay off the board and Porter likely to be retained by Washington, the Nets will be a “strong contender” for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com. That’s no surprise, now that the 24-year-old is unrestricted, but for Caldwell-Pope to be an option for Brooklyn, his camp may have to be patient, since the Nets’ cap room may be tied up for a few days until the Wizards make their decision on Porter official.
Here’s more from around the East:
- Before the Knicks swooped in with a $71MM offer sheet, the Hawks were willing to offer Tim Hardaway Jr. a four-year deal in the $48MM range, league sources tell ESPN’s Zach Lowe. We’ll see if Atlanta is willing to go significantly higher than that to match New York’s offer, or if Hardaway will return to the Knicks.
- The Hornets are in the market for another big man, GM Rich Cho said today (Twitter link via Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer). Charlotte is also evaluating whether to sign a third point guard or keep Briante Weber in that role. Weber has a non-guaranteed contract.
- Raptors president Masai Ujiri said today that he’s comfortable entering the 2017/18 season as a tax team, but there’s still plenty of time to make moves. He’s waiting for the trade market to open up a little, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN 1050.
- The plan for the Celtics has always been to have draft-and-stash prospect Guerschon Yabusele on their roster this fall, a league source tells Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). As ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (via Twitter), Boston will likely need to waive or trade Jordan Mickey and Demetrius Jackson to retain Yabusele’s cap hold.
Knicks Waive Marshall Plumlee
The Knicks have waived Marshall Plumlee, the team announced today (via Twitter). Plumlee will become an unrestricted free agent, assuming he clears waivers.
[RELATED: Knicks sign Tim Hardaway Jr. to offer sheet]
Plumlee, who turns 25 next Friday, signed with the Knicks last offseason as an undrafted free agent out of Duke. In his rookie season, he played sparingly for New York, averaging 1.9 PPG and 2.4 RPG in 21 contests (8.1 MPG). He had a larger role in 15 G League games for the Westchester Knicks, averaging 12.3 PPG and 9.1 RPG.
Plumlee’s 2017/18 salary was partially guaranteed for $100K, but the rest of his minimum salary wasn’t due to become fully guaranteed until October, according to Basketball Insiders. As such, the Knicks will be off the hook for the remaining $1,212,611.
And-Ones: Clark, Shved, Bogdanovic
Add Warriors guard Ian Clark to the list of wing players who interest the Timberwolves, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. C.J. Miles remains their prime target, but Minnesota doesn’t have enough cap room left to make a competitive offer. The Wolves have discussed a sign-and-trade that would send center Cole Aldrich and Oklahoma City’s 2018 first-rounder to Indiana in exchange for Miles, according to an ESPN report.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Alexey Shved may void the final year of his contract with Khimki Moscow in order to return to the NBA, a source tells international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Shved last played in the NBA for the Knicks during the 2014/15 campaign.
- The Kings are covering all of Bogdan Bogdanovic‘s $850K NBA buyout with Fenerbahce, a source tells Pick (Twitter link). Sacramento signed the swingman to a three-year deal worth $27MM, which is the richest contract for a rookie in league history.
- Phil Ricci will join the Kings’ coaching staff as an assistant player development coach, James Ham of NBC Sports tweets. Ricci played professionally abroad for several seasons before coaching at the high school level.
- Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace has penned a thank you letter to Zach Randolph for his contributions over the past eight years. The note, which is posted on the team’s website, credits Randolph for helping to establish Memphis’ “grit and grind” identity. Randolph agreed to a two-year, $24MM deal with the Kings on Tuesday. The Grizzlies also announced today that Randolph’s number will be retired.
Arthur Hill contributed to this post
Knicks Sign Tim Hardaway To Offer Sheet
Tim Hardaway Jr. has signed an offer sheet from the Knicks, Shams Charania of The Vertical reports (Twitter link). Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com tweets that the deal is for $71MM over four years.
The deal contains a player option on the final year of the deal, Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today adds (Twitter link). ESPN’s Ian Begley tweets that the contract contains a 15% trade kicker. The Hawks will have two days to make a decision on whether or not to match all the terms of the deal.
New York currently doesn’t have the cap space to make this lucrative of an offer. However, the organization has an easy path to opening up cap space in that it can simply renounce the rights to Derrick Rose, as ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes (Twitter link). Rose has a cap hold of approximately $29.7MM.
Hardaway Jr. was drafted by New York with the No. 24 pick in the 2013 draft. The Knicks traded him to the Hawks in a 2015 draft night trade that netted them Jerian Grant. Grant was traded to the Bulls during the following offseason as part of a package that brought Rose to the Big Apple.
Tim Hardaway Sr. tells Marc Berman of the New York Post (Twitter link) that his son has no “bad blood” with the organization. The shooting guard knows that the executive who traded him is no longer with the organization.
RFA Rumors: Mirotic, Noel, Simmons, Green
A handful of restricted free agents have made out well so far this year on the open market. Tony Snell, Joe Ingles, Cristiano Felicio, and Andre Roberson got lucrative new multiyear deals from their respective clubs, and Otto Porter reportedly has a maximum salary offer sheet in place with the Nets, though the Wizards have yet to receive it.
Still, there are a number of RFAs still on the market as league-wide cap room begins to dwindle. Sean Deveney of The Sporting News takes a closer look at six big-name RFA still seeking a new contract, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights…
- Prior to free agency, rival executives estimated that Nikola Mirotic would seek something in the range of $20MM annually. However, the Bulls‘ power forward may have to settle for something closer to $12MM per year, according to Deveney, who notes that team owner Jerry Reinsdorf has played “hardball” in these situations in the past.
- Deveney predicts that the Mavericks and Nerlens Noel will eventually negotiate a deal in the four-year, $85MM range.
- The Spurs are expected to match reasonable offers for Jonathon Simmons, which could mean something in the range of $30MM over three years, per Deveney. The Kings and Knicks have expressed interest in Simmons.
- Grizzlies RFA JaMychal Green has drawn some interest from the Bulls and he may be a backup plan for the Spurs depending on what happens with Simmons, says Deveney, adding that Memphis still wants to retain Green.
- Bojan Bogdanovic‘s price tag is “quickly dropping,” according to Deveney. The Wizards RFA was believed to be seeking something in the range of $50MM over three years, but that doesn’t seem realistic at this point. The Kings may be Bogdanovic’s best bet if they don’t land another small forward, writes Deveney.
Eastern Rumors: Ellington, Haslem, Smart, Hawks
The belief among Heat players is that Wayne Ellington will be back with the team next season, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Ellington is a candidate to be released within the next 48 hours or so, since his $6.27MM salary for 2017/18 – currently non-guaranteed – will become fully guaranteed if he remains under contract.
Even if the Heat ultimately decide that they need to waive Ellington to create some extra cap room for another move, that doesn’t necessarily rule out his return — the team could eventually re-sign him to a deal worth the $4.3MM room exception, if he’s open to accepting a pay cut.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Reynolds provides another Heat-related tidbit, tweeting that Udonis Haslem is on the Cavaliers‘ radar. Haslem, who has spent his entire career in Miami, wants to stay with the Heat, and that looks like the most probable outcome. But a conversation between Haslem and the Cavs is likely, per Reynolds.
- On Wednesday, an ESPN report indicated that the Celtics had called the Knicks about Marcus Smart, but New York’s level of interest in Smart was unclear. Following up on that story, Marc Berman of The New York Post reports that the Knicks do indeed have interest in Smart and are considering trade options as a way of filling part or all of their remaining cap space.
- Italian forward Nicolo Melli received a contract offer from the Hawks, according to international basketball journalist David Pick (Twitter link). However, Pick reports that Melli has turned down that offer and will sign a multiyear pact with Fenerbahce in Turkey. Per Sportando (Twitter link), Melli’s new deal isn’t done yet, but will be within a few days.
- The Raptors are the latest team to line up a deal to add a sponsored patch to their jersey, according to TSN’s Rick Westhead, who reports that Toronto has signed a three-year agreement with insurance company Sun Life Financial. The deal will pay Raptors ownership more than $5MM annually, sources tell Westhead. The list of NBA clubs that have agreed to jersey sponsorship deals can be found here.
Knicks Not Expected To Make Any Win-Now Moves
Nearly every team within the Atlantic Division has been busy this offseason by either adding key pieces or retaining their own stars. The Knicks may be the division’s lone exception and a league source tells Adam Zagoria of FanRag that the team isn’t expected to make any moves with the short-term in mind.
“[They are] building around K.P.,” one league source tells Zagoria. “Cleaning up all of Phil’s win-now mistakes.”
The source added that the franchise is “trying to build the right way, not with over-the-hill, oft-injured players that fit an antiquated and unproductive system.” New York added several veterans last offseason with the hope of making the playoffs while running the triangle offense during the 2016/17 campaign.
This offseason, the team appears to be targeting players who are not past their primes. New York was interested in Dion Waiters before the shooting guard re-signed with the Heat and it reportedly reached out to Jonathan Simmons about bringing the small forward to the Big Apple.
The Knicks remain hopeful that it can deal Carmelo Anthony and if a deal materializes, it could signal that the team will tank during the upcoming campaign. However, a source tells Zagoria that we won’t see a dramatic tank project akin to Philadelphia’s scheme with Sam Hinkie. “It looks like a rebuild,” a second league source tells Zagoria. “I do not think that they need to tank because they are not going to be very good anyway.”
Knicks Sign Frank Ntilikina To Rookie Contract
The Knicks’ new point guard has a new contract, according to the team, which announced today (via Twitter) that Frank Ntilikina has officially inked his four-year rookie deal. As Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets, Ntilikina’s mother was in attendance to witness the event.
[RELATED: 2017 NBA Draft Pick Signings]
As the No. 8 overall pick in the 2017 draft, Ntilikina is in line for a first-year salary of about $3.5MM, with a four-year total of $18.69MM on his new deal. The third and fourth years will be team options.
While Ntilikina projects to be the Knicks’ point guard of the future, it’s not clear whether he’ll get a chance to play major minutes right away. The club has been fairly quiet in free agency, but continues to seek a veteran point guard to act as a mentor for Ntilikina, who will turn 19 later this month.
Knicks Rumors: Rondo, Point Guards, Smart
The Knicks have been in touch with free agent point guard Rajon Rondo, according to Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). However, the two sides haven’t set up a meeting at this point, per Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog (Twitter link).
While a report on July 1 indicated that New York had reached out to Rondo’s camp, Marc Berman of The New York Post suggests that the club didn’t formally make contact until today (Twitter link). Ian Begley of ESPN.com, who initially reported the team’s contact with Rondo on Saturday, reiterates that account, though he acknowledges that “no substantive conversation” happened over the weekend.
Regardless of when the Knicks first touched base with Rondo and his reps, it’s clear that the team continues to explore all its options as it contemplates adding a veteran guard to the roster. Here’s more on that search:
- Some people who have been in contact with the Knicks recently got the impression that the team’s interest in Rondo isn’t particularly strong, per Begley.
- The Knicks have heard from the Celtics, who are open to trading Marcus Smart, but it’s not clear whether or not New York is interested in Smart, writes Begley.
- Derrick Rose and Shelvin Mack remain on the Knicks’ radar, according to Begley, who hears that the team is on the lookout for a mentor for rookie point guard Frank Ntilikina.