DeAndre Jordan To Sign With Mavs
3:33pm: The deal includes a player option after year three, tweets Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
3:20pm: The Clippers have been told of Jordan’s decision to sign with Dallas, too, reports Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
2:55pm: DeAndre Jordan has told the Mavericks he’s signing with them, sources tell Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The sought-after center plans to announce the news tonight, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that it’ll be a four-year, $80MM deal (Twitter links). Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link) reported minutes earlier that the Dan Fegan client was on the verge of accepting an offer from the Mavericks, pegging it at that same four-year, $80MM mark, which appears to represent the max. Dallas has been extremely optimistic, as Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com tweeted shortly after Stein’s report. It would be a profound disappointment for the Clippers and represent a miss for the Lakers, too. Jordan’s representatives have already told the Knicks they’re out of the running, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The options for the Clippers are limited, since they couldn’t generate a trade exception for the full value of Jordan’s starting salary even if they could convince the Mavs to work a sign-and-trade, because he’s getting a raise of better than 20%, notes Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (on Twitter). It’s a vestige of the base-year compensation rules that would cap the value of the exception at Jordan’s previous salary of slightly more than $11.44MM. That wouldn’t be enough for the Clippers to trade for David Lee, Roy Hibbert or Nene without matching salaries. The Clippers don’t have enough cap flexibility to sign a comparable replacement.
MacMahon first reported Jordan’s extreme interest in signing with Dallas back in April. That was in spite of Jordan’s clear affection for Clippers coach/executive Doc Rivers. Still, Jordan made it clear even in the spring that the Clippers weren’t necessarily the favorites as he approached unrestricted free agency for the first time in his career. Jordan was concerned about how the Clippers roster would age over time, and Blake Griffin‘s ability to reach free agency himself in two years, as Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com reported overnight. The center also reportedly didn’t see eye-to-eye with Chris Paul, though there were conflicting reports on just how much of a factor that was. Jordan was also apparently tired of playing third wheel behind Griffin and Paul.
The Clippers nonetheless seemed to impress in their meeting with him Thursday, but so did the Mavs, and owner Mark Cuban and recruiter extraordinaire Chandler Parsons met with Jordan again this morning, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com. Dallas, once the deal becomes official following the July Moratorium, will land the sort of star free agent target it’s missed out on ever since it won the title in 2011. The Mavs will take him into cap space, barring any sign-and-trade developments. Jordan’s deal, put together with the roughly $13MM that Wesley Matthews will reportedly see this coming season on his contract with Dallas, likely closes off the team’s cap flexibility, limiting it to the $2.814MM room exception for outside free agents who want more than the minimum.
DeAndre Jordan Rumors: Friday
DeAndre Jordan appears torn between the Clippers and Mavericks, though he’s ruled out neither the Lakers nor the Knicks, as the last reports from Thursday indicated. We’ll round up today’s latest here, with any new information added to the top throughout the day:
- Jordan’s representatives have told the Knicks he won’t sign with them, Wojnarowski reports (on Twitter), so Lopez looks like he’ll end up in New York.
1:11pm update:
- Jordan has narrowed his list to just the Clippers and Mavs, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski, who writes in a story on New York’s tentative deal with Robin Lopez. That Lopez deal still seems tied to Jordan’s decision, however. So, it would appear that the Knicks haven’t abandoned hope, remote as their chances might be. The Clippers are confident, as Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders hears (Twitter links).
11:11am update:
- A person close to Jordan who was in the Clippers meeting left with a positive impression, saying “they had their stuff together,” as he spoke with Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times. The Mavs also reportedly impressed in their meeting.
8:16am update:
- The Dan Fegan client has concerns about the Clippers‘ roster and doesn’t know that it’ll age well, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He’s worried about what will happen when Blake Griffin can opt out of his contract in two years, Shelburne adds.
- Jordan entered free agency giving the Clippers a slight edge, a league source Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. Other reports indicate that it’s a 50-50 proposition now, and Dan Woike of The Orange County Register has heard that it’s been that way for a while (Twitter link).
- Those around Jordan have downplayed tension between him and Chris Paul, Medina writes in the same piece.
Latest On Corey Brewer
12:46pm: The Pistons, too, have interest, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News (Twitter link).
12:06pm: The Knicks are meeting with Corey Brewer today in Los Angeles, reports Chris Broussard of ESPN.com (Twitter link), as New York is increasingly prioritzing him, as well as Derrick Williams, with whom the team is also meeting today, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter). The Lakers are still interested in Brewer, according to Broussard (on Twitter), a couple of days after he and the team reportedly met. The Rockets were apparently intent on re-signing him when they reportedly became first team to contact Brewer as his free agency began this week, but Houston isn’t really in the mix for the Happy Walters client now, a source told Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Feigen nonetheless suggests the distinct possibility that the Rockets get back in the game on the 29-year-old who’s shown a clear preference to remain in Houston (Twitter link).
Brewer waived his player option upon the trade that sent him to Houston this past season with the thought that the Rockets would use Early Bird rights to re-sign him, Feigen writes. Houston can pay him up to nearly $8.23MM without using cap room, but it appears as though the Rockets haven’t offered him an amount close to that figure, as Feigen indicates.
Broussard estimates that the Knicks have about $8MM in cap flexibility left, presumably working off the assumption that New York will miss on DeAndre Jordan and that Robin Lopez will instead sign with the team to pair with Arron Afflalo, who’s already agreed to a deal. The Lakers hang back with max-level cap room, so they would ostensibly have an edge in a bidding war. Brewer, who once played for George Karl, has apparently piqued the interest of some members of the Kings brass, and Sacramento has no shortage of cap flexibility, either. The Celtics also reportedly spoke with him.
Latest On DeAndre Jordan
11:03pm: Jordan remains torn between the Clippers and the Mavericks after meeting with Los Angeles earlier this evening, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports (Twitter link). However, the Lakers and Knicks have not been completely ruled out by the big man, tweets Arash Markazi of ESPN.com.
4:26pm: The Mavs and the Clippers are the only legitimate candidates for Jordan, a source told Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News today.
4:01pm: The Mavs made a strong impression on Jordan during their meeting, but if they don’t land him, they’ll seriously consider signing Kosta Koufos, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com.
10:41am: New York is still a long shot for Jordan, people connected to the center said this morning to Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com (Twitter link).
9:31am: The Clippers were confident about retaining DeAndre Jordan going into the start of free agency Wednesday, but they felt they had only 50-50 chances as of Wednesday night, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Lakers were nonetheless “somewhat underwhelming” in their presentation to him, sources told Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Jordan sensed the Lakers had been through a whirlwind day after meeting earlier with LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Monroe, according to Turner (on Twitter), and the nighttime start may have hampered the visit, as both the team and Jordan’s camp were tired, as Chris Mannix of SI.com hears (Twitter links). Still, a source close to Jordan who spoke with Mannix called the meeting “very professional” and disputes the idea that he took any issue with it.
The meeting with the Lakers lasted about two hours, less than half the time Jordan spent with the Mavs, as Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News details. Dallas impressed the Dan Fegan client, according to Medina, and a full contingent from the Mavs was on hand. The Lakers didn’t have Kobe Bryant present for their meeting, and no members of the Buss family, the owners of the team, were there either, Turner tweets. That’s in contrast to the meeting that Aldridge took with the Lakers, which included Bryant, Jeanie Buss and Jim Buss.
Jordan is meeting with the Knicks today and the Clippers this evening, Turner hears (Twitter links), and he doesn’t plan to make a decision until after he completes those visits, sources also told Turner.
Free Agent Rumors: Stoudemire, Hill, Butler
The free agent signing period is now in its second day, and here are the latest rumblings from around the league:
- The Clippers, Rockets, Mavericks, Lakers, and Suns all have expressed interest in signing Amar’e Stoudemire as a backup big man, Chris Broussard of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Stoudemire is only interested in signing with the Clippers if DeAndre Jordan departs and he could become the starter, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times tweets.
- The Mavs will shift focus to pursuing unrestricted free agent Jordan Hill if the team misses out on signing Jordan, Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com tweets.
- Having missed out on Greg Monroe, one of their prime free agent targets, the Knicks have been in contact with Hill’s representatives, Sean Deveney of The Sporting News writes.
- Caron Butler, who was waived by the Bucks shortly after they had acquired him from the Pistons, is on the Knicks‘ radar thanks to his shooting ability and potential fit in the triangle offense, Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets. The Cavaliers have also been in constant contact with Butler, though no signing appears imminent, notes Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- Unrestricted free agent Quincy Acy is garnering interest from the Magic, Kings, Pelicans, Hawks, and Spurs, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders relays (via Twitter).
- Free agent Gigi Datome is split on whether to return to the NBA next season or to play in Europe, tweets Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe. The forward’s primary concern is playing time, not money, adds Himmelsbach.
- The Mavs are back in play for J.J. Barea after he was leaning toward signing with the Heat Wednesday, TNT’s David Aldridge relays in a series of tweets. The point guard is seeking a three-year deal, Aldridge adds. Dallas is optimistic it can land Barea but is waiting for other free agents to make their decisions first, notes Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (on Twitter).
- Unrestricted free agent Joel Freeland said that he will sign with a European team if he doesn’t agree to an NBA contract by July 10th, Shams Charania of RealGM reports (via Twitter).
- Center Kosta Koufos has received interest from the Mavs, Lakers and Kings, Kennedy tweets. The Bucks had shown interest as well, prior to signing Greg Monroe, Kennedy adds.
- Free agent forward Derrick Williams is scheduled to meet with the Knicks and Mavericks today in Los Angeles, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports tweets.
- The Pistons and Suns both made hard pushes to sign DeMarre Carroll, who instead inked a deal with the Raptors, Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com relays (Twitter link). Carroll was blown away by Toronto’s offer, its environment, and is a big fan of coach Dwane Casey, Arnovitz adds.
Kenyon Martin Retires
Veteran forward Kenyon Martin is hanging up his sneakers and retiring from the NBA, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports reports. “It’s been a great 15 years,” Martin told Spears. “Thanks to all the fans that supported me over the years. But a time does come when you have to walk away, and the time is now for me. I’m ready for the next chapter of my life. I would like to thank the Nets, Nuggets, Clippers, Knicks and Bucks for the opportunity to play the game that I love. It’s been real. Thanks for the love.”
Martin said that he is interested in coaching on the college or NBA level. He also plans to help his 14-year-old son, Kenyon Jr., develop into a basketball star, Spears relays. “I have family time and business ahead,” Martin said. “And if something coaching comes up [basketball-wise], I will consider it. I’m also getting Kenyon, Jr., ready to be the No. 1 pick in a couple of years.”
The 37-year-old was the No. 1 overall pick by the Nets in the 2000 NBA Draft. He played for the Nets, Clippers, Nuggets, Knicks, and Bucks over the course of his 15 year professional career. Martin appeared in 11 contests for Milwaukee last season, averaging 1.8 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.5 minutes per night. His career numbers are 12.3 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 1.9 APG, with a slash line of .483/.234/.629. The Andy Miller client made almost $113.144MM in NBA salaries over the course of his career, according to Basketball-Reference and Basketball Insiders data.
Knicks, Mavs Tentatively Consider Roy Hibbert
3:32pm: The Knicks would also target Hibbert if they miss on Jordan and Robin Lopez, reports Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today (Twitter link).
11:56am: The Mavericks remain hopeful about luring DeAndre Jordan from the Clippers, but if they don’t, they would consider trading with the Pacers for Roy Hibbert, reports Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com (Twitter link). It would be a “salary-dump deal,” MacMahon says, presumably meaning that Dallas would absorb Hibbert into cap space instead of taking back players from Indiana. The Clippers’ chances at keeping Jordan are reportedly 50-50, though the Lakers and long shot Knicks also loom as threats.
Indiana seems eager to part with Hibbert, having reportedly been aggressive in their apparent attempts to trade him before the draft. Pacers president of basketball operations Larry Bird and coach Frank Vogel signaled this spring that they wanted to move on from Hibbert, who nonetheless picked up his player option worth more than $15.514MM.
Hibbert has a 15% trade kicker in his deal, and even though the starting salary in his deal was for the max, the kicker still has value, as he’s since accrued seven years of service and is eligible for a max worth roughly 30% of the salary cap instead of just 25%, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter links here). So, the kicker would likely add more than $2.327MM to his salary. The Pacers would have to pay that, though it would count toward his cap hit for whichever team were to take him on.
Knicks, Lakers Consider Trading For David Lee
1:32pm: The Lakers would be more likely to try to trade for Lee if they miss on their top three free agent targets than they would be to revisit trade talks with the Kings for DeMarcus Cousins, tweets Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com.
1:27pm: The Knicks have had discussions about reacquiring David Lee, reports Howard Beck of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). It’s unclear whether those talks involved the Warriors or were internal. Lee played the first five years of his career in New York and still owns a home in the area, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post (on Twitter). Golden State and representatives for Lee, a Mark Bartelstein client, have reportedly agreed to work together to find a trade taker for the power forward and his salary of nearly $15.494MM for this coming season as the Warriors seek to lessen their tax burden.
New York is prioritizing free agents, but Lee is a possibility, according to Beck. The Knicks missed out on Greg Monroe, who’s off to the Bucks. They’re meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge, DeAndre Jordan and Robin Lopez, though they seem long shots for both Aldridge and Jordan.
New York could absorb Lee into cap space, allowing the Warriors to move off his entire salary. That would be a boon for Golden State, which figures to pay the tax even if Lee isn’t around but would save on extra penalties if his salary is off the books. Lee fell out of the rotation this past season but has twice been an All-Star.
Grizzlies, Marc Gasol Progress Toward Deal
Marc Gasol‘s preference is to sign a five-year deal for the max with the Grizzlies, and as the Arn Tellem client and the Grizzlies continue to hammer out the structure of a would-be deal, other teams have given up pursuit, reports Marc Stein of ESPN.com. The Spurs, who appeared to have the best shot to lure him from the Grizzlies, as well as the Lakers, Knicks and Bucks all scuttled plans to chase him before free agency began, convinced he would stay in Memphis, as Stein details.
It’s likely that Gasol will re-sign with the Grizzlies today, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported Wednesday, and Stein wrote earlier this week that the 30-year-old center didn’t plan to meet with other teams. Grizzlies owner Robert Pera was among a contingent of Grizzlies higher-ups who traveled to Spain to ensure Gasol is formally on board with staying.
The seven-year veteran is No. 4 in our Free Agent Power Rankings. He’s eligible for a starting salary worth about 30% of the salary cap, or roughly $19MM, with 7.5% raises from the Grizzlies.
Latest On LaMarcus Aldridge
9:48am: Hughes, the Blazers assistant who said the team expected Aldridge to depart, has no knowledge of Portland’s free agent dealings, as The Oregonian’s Jason Quick hears (Twitter link).
8:29am: The Raptors did well in their meeting with Aldridge, but it’s unlikely he picks them, TNT’s David Aldridge tweets.
THURSDAY, 8:22am: Blazers assistant coach Kim Hughes told WTHI-TV of Terre Haute, Indiana, on Tuesday that the team expected Aldridge to leave, as Mike Tokito of The Oregonian transcribes (video link; scroll ahead to 2:05 mark).
“Well, people don’t realize we just went young,” Hughes said. “We didn’t publicize it, but we lost LaMarcus Aldridge. It hasn’t been declared yet, but I’m sure he won’t come back. We will go young.”
5:22pm: The Suns have emerged as contenders along with the Spurs to land Aldridge, Marc Stein of ESPN.com tweets.
3:53pm: The Blazers aren’t to be counted out for Aldridge yet, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who indicated in his last tweet that Aldridge was staying in touch with his incumbent team.
3:44pm: San Antonio impressed Aldridge the most, with the Rockets a close second, Wojnarowski hears (Twitter link).
3:36pm: The Lakers are out of the running for Aldridge, who disliked the basketball portion of the team’s presentation, Bresnahan reports (Twitter link). Aldridge was “floored in a good way” by Houston’s analytics and their on-court projections as he met with them, Bresnahan adds in a second tweet. Aldridge didn’t hear the answers he wanted to hear from Bryant during the Lakers meeting, Bresnahan also hears (Twitter link). Moreover, Aldridge wanted more of a basketball focus to the meeting, Wojnarowski tweets.
3:01pm: The Suns’ deal with Tyson Chandler piqued Aldridge’s interest, as USA Today’s Sam Amick hears. Phoenix wouldn’t have the cap space for both, so it would have to clear salary. Marc Stein of ESPN.com suggests that Portland might have interest in a sign-and-trade of Aldridge involving Eric Bledsoe, given that GM Neil Olshey drafted Bledsoe (Twitter links), though the latest report on Bledsoe indicates that the Suns will not deal him.
2:44pm: Aldridge won’t be re-signing with the Blazers, a source close to his situation tells Bleacher Report’s Jared Zwerling, identifying the Spurs, Lakers, Mavs and Rockets as front-runners (Twitter link). Still, the Spurs made a “powerful” presentation to Aldridge today and their status as the favorites remains unchanged, according to what Wojnarowski is hearing (Twitter link).
WEDNESDAY, 12:11pm: The Spurs are the front-runners for LaMarcus Aldridge as they meet today, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, and some executives around the league are starting to think that the All-Star will sign with San Antonio, according to Grantland’s Zach Lowe (Twitter link). The Lakers didn’t make a strong impression on Aldridge in their meeting overnight, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), though Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com heard that it went “really well,” as we passed along earlier. Kobe Bryant told Ken Berger of CBSSports.com that he also believed the meeting went well, but the Lakers star came away without a firm belief of what the notoriously fickle power forward would do (Twitter link). Aldridge was “engaged” but “noncommittal” in the meeting, as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times hears (Twitter link).
San Antonio is meeting today with the client of Arn Tellem and Thaddeus Foucher, and the general feeling around the league is that the team’s deal with Danny Green and trade agreement that sends out Tiago Splitter and his salary are positives for the team’s pursuit of Aldridge, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News (on Twitter). The Blazers are apparently unlikely to sign-and-trade Aldridge, so clearing cap room is key.
The Rockets, Suns, Mavericks, Raptors and Knicks are also on Aldridge’s list of meetings, as TNT’s David Aldridge reported. Aldridge’s meeting with Houston has apparently already happened, with the Rockets still seemingly unlikely to reel him in, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).