Knicks Waive Ricky Ledo
The Knicks announced (on Twitter) that they have waived Ricky Ledo. The guard would have had $100K of his salary guaranteed had he remained on the roster beyond Saturday.
Ledo was set to earn the minimum salary for 2015/16 and he had two key dates in his contract – one being August 1st and the other being opening night of the season. On each of those dates, Ledo would have secured separate $100K guarantees. Now that the Knicks have shed Ledo in July, they’re not on the hook for anything.
The Knicks signed Ledo to a pair of 10-day contracts last season before signing him to a deal that covered the remainder of the year. In 12 appearances for the Knicks, Ledo averaged 7.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 19.4 minutes per game. Ledo was waived by the Mavs around the trade deadline last year to make room for Amar’e Stoudemire. Prior to that, he spent the bulk of the year with the Texas Legends, the club’s D-League affiliate
Knicks Sign Kristaps Porzingis, Jerian Grant
The Knicks announced (via Twitter) that they have officially signed first-round picks Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant. The Knicks selected Porzingis No. 4 overall and selected Grant with their other first-round selection at No. 19.
The selection of Porzingis was panned by many Knicks fans who were hoping for a more familiar name, but he has since silenced critics with some impressive performances in Summer League action. Recently, Knicks GM Steve Mills said that scout Clarence Gaines believed the Knicks should have taken Porzingis first overall if they had won the draft lottery. The Knicks weren’t ready to go quite that far, but they were happy to have the forward fall to them at No. 4. Porzingis, who turns 20 on Sunday, was praised by DraftExpress for his fundamentally sound shooting and high-level mobility for a 7-footer.
On draft night, the Knicks shipped Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Hawks to secure the No. 19 pick, which they used to select Grant. The Notre Dame standout spent five years – including a redshirt season – in South Bend, and has shown tremendous poise for a player his age. Prior to the draft, I spoke with Grant about why he didn’t declare for the draft earlier and the progress he made as a senior last season. Grant also told Hoops Rumors that he was hearing he would not slip past No. 22 in the draft and he was proven right in June.
Porzingis is slated to earn $18.65MM over the next four years, according to the 2015 rookie scale. Grant, meanwhile, will earn $7.568MM over that period of time.
Knicks Re-Sign Louis Amundson
JULY 30TH: The Knicks announced that they have officially re-signed Amundson, Ian Begley of ESPN.com tweets.
JULY 11TH: The Knicks have reached an agreement with unrestricted free agent Louis Amundson, Al Iannazzone of Newsday reports (Twitter link). It is a one-year, $1.65MM arrangement, adds the Newsday scribe.
Amundson appeared in 41 games for New York last season, averaging 6.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in 20.9 minutes per contest, with a slash line of .432/.000/.463. His career numbers through nine NBA campaigns are 3.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.4 assists, with a shooting line of .478/.000/.441.
The 32-year-old had previously indicated that he would consider playing in Europe if he wasn’t re-signed by New York. “I would like to play. I’ve been in this league, so I know what that’s like,” Amundson said. “So, I think going overseas would be a new experience for me I think I’d enjoy. I’d get an opportunity to play. So yeah, everything’s on the table.’’
Northwest Notes: Durant, Thunder, Blazers
The Blazers acquired Mike Miller from the Cavs earlier this week but he’s probably not sticking around for long. The veteran is a “strong candidate” to negotiate a buyout with Portland, Marc Stein of ESPN.com hears, and the Grizzlies, Thunder, and Mavs already appear to be interested. While we wait for more on that, here’s more from the Northwest Division..
- The Thunder remain the front-runners for Kevin Durant‘s 2016 free agency, but Sean Deveney of The Sporting News sizes up the chances that the Wizards, Warriors,
Rockets, Heat, Clippers, Mavericks, Celtics, Knicks and Lakers all of have of convincing the former MVP to leave OKC. - The Thunder viewed Kevin Seraphin as a possible fall-back option if they did not re-sign Enes Kanter, a person with knowledge of the situation tells Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. At this point, a one-year deal is more likely for Seraphin than a long-term pact, Castillo writes. OKC, of course, has retained Kanter. The Knicks, Lakers, and Wizards are showing interest in Seraphin at this time.
- The SI.com staff debated which team took the biggest step back this summer and multiple writers cast their ballots for the Trail Blazers. The Blazers, of course, have watched Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Robin Lopez wind up elsewhere this summer. Damian Lillard has been surrounded with some promising young talent, but they seem likely to take a big step back in 2015/16.
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.
Atlantic Notes: Ndour, Boozer, Celtics, Prokhorov
The Knicks tried to make Maurice Ndour the latest to back out of a deal with the Mavericks this summer, but Ndour wouldn’t break his commitment to Dallas, a source told Marc Berman of the New York Post. The undrafted power forward stuck to a three-year pact that will give him a fully guaranteed salary worth more than the rookie minimum, according to Berman. The Knicks had only been offering a $200K partial guarantee until the Mavs swooped in, and New York’s attempt to win over Ndour after he gave his word to Dallas came up short, Berman writes. Still, if Ndour becomes a free agent again soon, he’d love to return to the Knicks, for whom he played in summer league, the Post scribe says. Already, DeAndre Jordan and Richard Jefferson have turned their backs on the Mavs, but Jefferson did so with owner Mark Cuban’s blessing. In any case, there’s more out of New York amid the last from the Atlantic Division:
- New York’s interest in Carlos Boozer is “tepid,” Berman writes in the same piece, and that jibes with his report from two weeks ago that the team held internal conversations about the free agent power forward but hadn’t made a move on him. In any case, Knicks team president Phil Jackson would still like to sign a big man, Berman adds.
- The offseason has been a success for the Celtics because they acquired depth that vastly improved the team while still maintaining the copious draft assets that they can use in future trades, opines Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. That’s doubly so because the C’s acquired players with motivation to play to their fullest, Washburn adds. We asked you to weigh in Boston’s offseason so far right here.
- Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov struck an upbeat tone in brief comments Tuesday, but conspicuous by his absence from Prokhorov’s remarks was Deron Williams, the marquee free agent signing of the Prokhorov era whom the Nets let go in a buyout deal this month, notes Tim Bontemps of the New York Post. “First of all, we had a really good offseason – better than a lot of people expected,” Prokhorov said. “Without a lot of noise, we got a lot done. Brook [Lopez] and Thaddeus [Young] are staying with us, which gives us continuity in our frontcourt. Joe Johnson stays as a core player. We also have high expectations for Bojan Bogdanovic, who showed us real flashes of brilliance in his first year on the Nets.”
Atlantic Notes: Jackson, Celtics, Boatright
- The Celtics are unlikely to use their $2.814MM room exception, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link). That’s not surprising, since the C’s already have 17 fully guaranteed contracts, including Zoran Dragic, whom the team is expected to either waive or trade.
- Ryan Boatright‘s minimum salary deal with the Nets is already partially guaranteed for $75K this season, according to NetsDaily (Twitter link). A previous report indicated that guarantee wouldn’t kick in until August 1st. Boatright will lock in $200K if he sticks on the roster for the regular season, NetsDaily adds. However, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders shows Boatright only with a $75K guarantee until November 15th, when that guarantee would increase to $125K.
- The Knicks are letting go of interim D-League head coach Craig Hodges, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. Hodges had reportedly been expected to remain as a D-League assistant.
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.
Knicks, Others Eye Kevin Seraphin
The Knicks, Lakers and Wizards continue to show interest in Kevin Seraphin, league sources tell Michael Scotto of SheridanHoops (Twitter link). Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported interest from the Lakers early this month, and Scotto added the Wizards a few days later, but this appears to be the first time New York has come up in connection with the center.
The Knicks are also among the teams with interest in Carlos Boozer, but it’s not clear if New York sees the pair of big men as an either-or proposition. The Knicks and Lakers have their $2.814MM room exception available, but the Wizards have his Bird rights, so they can outbid other teams.
The Wizards were expected earlier this month to attempt to find a team willing to sign-and-trade for Seraphin, a maneuver that would ostensibly allow Washington to create a trade exception. In any case, Seraphin seemed a long shot to return to the Wizards at season’s end, as he’s reportedly been looking for a chance to compete for the starting job, though, according to Scotto, Washington at least touched base with him this month. The Wizards have Marcin Gortat entering year two of a five-year deal to man the pivot. Starting would also be a difficult proposition for Seraphin in New York, where free agent signee Robin Lopez seems firmly entrenched, and the same is probably true of the Lakers, who traded for Roy Hibbert.
The Suns and Mavericks also reportedly showed interest earlier this month, though it’s unclear if they’re still in the mix. The Spurs apparently had tentative interest in case David West signed elsewhere, but West took the minimum to play for San Antonio.
Which team needs Seraphin the most: The Knicks, Lakers or Wizards? Leave a comment to let us know.
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.
Atlantic Notes: Larkin, Nets, Lee
- In the same Q&A with Rosen, Jackson spelled out his reasons for trading J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to the Cavaliers. “J.R. was more interested in hunting for his own shots than in buying into the triangle. Plus, he has a player’s option for next season that would limit our flexibility. As for Shumpert, mainly because of injuries, he’d take one step forward and two steps backward. And because of a salary ‘hold’ on his rookie contract, a CBA format that limits available money in free agency.” Jackson was presumably referring to Shumpert’s cap hold, which would have taken up more than $6.542MM on New York’s cap this summer.
- David Lee nearly signed with the Celtics the last time he was a free agent, Ben Rohrbach of WEEI.com tweets. Lee signed a six-year contract with the Knicks and then was shipped to the Warriors in a sign-and-trade in 2010. The Celtics completed a long-rumored trade for Lee on Monday. Lee was immediately interested in joining the Celtics when they showed interest in acquiring him, according to Jay King of MassLive.com (Twitter link).
- The Nets used their $2,339,131 Kevin Garnett trade exception to acquire Steve Blake from the Trail Blazers last month, as NetsDaily indicates. It was one of three exceptions Brooklyn could have used to accommodate the deal. Blake’s salary, since moved to the Pistons in the Quincy Miller trade, left a virtually unusable $262,131 remaining on the Garnett exception.