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Draft Rumors: Monday

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 8:12 pm

With the NBA draft just 17 days away, we're guaranteed to be following daily rumors and rumblings for the next two and a half weeks. We'll try to make it as easy as possible to follow the latest updates by including most of our draft-related items in a single daily post. Consider this Monday's post, and check back throughout the day for more draft notes, with the newest additions up top:

In a tweet, AZCentral.com's Paul Coro has wrangled up some news from CBSSports.com's Jeff Goodman and SI.com's Sam Amick. North Carolina teammates Kendall Marshall and John Henson will reportedly work out for the Suns this week.

Earlier updates:

On Tuesday, the Wizards will hold a workout to help decide what direction they want to go with their two second round picks (as of today, the team holds both the 32nd and 46th picks in the draft), tweets Michael Lee of the Washington Post. Some notable names Washington plans to workout are Syracuse's Scoop Jardine, and Duke's Miles Plumlee.
The Trail Blazers will work out North Carolina's John Henson on Tuesday, tweets SI.com's Sam Amick.
Also from Amick, the Kings will work out several players, including North Carolina's Tyler Zeller, on Tuesday. Sacramento currently holds picks 5 and 36.
The Hornets plan on bringing in several point guards and shooting guards when they resume workouts next week, writes Nola.com's John Reid.
After predicting the top 15 picks in the draft last week, TNT's David Aldridge takes a crack at the rest of the first round in this week's NBA.com column.
Royce White and Jordan Taylor are among the six prospects scheduled to work out for the Timberwolves on Tuesday, says Ray Richardson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
The Pistons are eyeing potential fits for the second round, working out Miles Plumlee and Kyle O'Quinn, tweets Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News.
Perry Jones III tells Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com that he'd love to play on the Trail Blazers alongside LaMarcus Aldridge.
The Magic will be prepared for the draft no matter how long it takes to hire a GM, but a lengthy GM search could have other negative effects, writes Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel.
If the Hornets decide to deal their tenth overall pick, gaining future draft assets is more important to them than ditching bad contracts, says Steve Kyler of HoopsWorld. Kyler doesn't expect the Hornets to include players like Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza with the pick in a deal that merely creates cap space. According to Kyler, New Orleans could seeking a 2012 second-rounder along with a future first-rounder in any deal.
Within the same piece, Kyler adds that the Warriors and Knicks have expressed some interest in Alabama's Tony Mitchell.
In a pair of tweets, Kyler says Harrison Barnes did not officially meet with the Bulls, and that a brief chat with coach Tom Thibodeau was blown out of proportion.
The Sixers met with Andre Drummond at the draft combine and could be trying to trade up, since Drummond will be long gone at No. 15, tweets Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld.
Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com makes some changes in his latest post-combine mock draft.
The Kings will need some help if they want a shot to land Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.

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The Importance Of This Week’s Bird Rights Ruling

By Luke Adams | at June 11, 2012 1:41 pm

Last month, the NBPA announced that it was challenging the rule that players claimed off waivers lose their Bird rights. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for this Wednesday, at which point an arbitrator will rule in favor of either the league or the players' union. While the issue affects all 30 NBA teams, much of the discussion on the topic has centered around the Knicks, which isn't a surprise — New York is the team with the most to gain or lose from Wednesday's decision.

As the Hoops Rumors glossary outlines, a player's Bird rights clock can reset in a number of scenarios, including when he is waived and claimed off waivers by another team. The players' union is arguing that the Bird clock should not restart in that instance, since the players isn't switching teams as a free agent, and continues to play under his same contract. While the union's logic makes sense – changing teams via waivers is similar to being moved in a trade, in which case the Bird clock doesn't reset – the wording in the CBA on the issue is clearly presented and hasn't changed over the years. The union is expected to lose its appeal.

Players are rarely claimed on waivers, so the Bird rights issue doesn't arise often. This season, however, the Knicks happened to claim two players that they'd like to re-sign in free agency — Jeremy Lin and Steve Novak. Since both players were claimed by the Knicks in December, they only have Non-Bird rights, which will make it difficult for New York to match offers without dipping into its mid-level exception.

The Knicks presumably won't have any qualms about passing the luxury tax threshold and becoming a taxpaying team, but if they do so, they'll only have the $3MM taxpayer mid-level exception at their disposal. Because Lin is expected to receive offers with a first-year salary that exceeds $3MM, under the current rules, the Knicks would have to use the full $5MM non-taxpayer mid-level to retain their point guard, which would prevent them from passing the tax line later in the season. If the union were to win this week's ruling, however, Lin would gain Early Bird rights, meaning the Knicks could match any offer sheet for him under the Gilbert Arenas provision without using their mid-level. They could also re-sign Novak using the Early Bird exception, and could then use their MLE to sign an outside free agent.

Put simply, the Knicks have about $59MM committed to guaranteed 2012/13 salaries so far. Assuming they need to use the non-taxpayer MLE to retain Lin, under the current rules, that would give them about $15MM to re-sign Lin, Novak, J.R. Smith, and Landry Fields, and to bring in other players to fill out the roster, with a hard cap in the $74MM range.

If the union were to win the ruling, the Knicks could re-sign Lin, Novak, and Fields for up to $5MM each, could re-sign Smith for up to about $3MM, and would still have somewhere from $3-5MM in MLE money to spend on a free agent. The team also wouldn't be hard-capped and could bring in as many minimum-salary free agents as it needed over the course of the season.

The NBPA may be fighting on behalf of players across the league on Wednesday, but the Knicks and their free agents are the ones that stand to benefit the most. If the union loses its appeal, as expected, New York will also be the team that loses the most, as the team figures to have to let one or more of its free agents walk.

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0 comments New York Knicks

Atlantic Notes: Celtics, Rivers, Raptors, Knicks

By Chuck Myron | at June 8, 2012 9:01 pm

Tomorrow night, the Celtics will either advance to the NBA Finals or face a summer of uncertainty, with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen as unrestricted free agents. Win or lose, this "big three" will go down as a success for Celtics executive Danny Ainge, writes Paul Flannery of WEEI.com. If the Celtics win tomorrow and advance to face the Thunder, it will set up an interesting referendum on Ainge's trade that sent Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City. There's plenty of other news swirling around the Atlantic as the draft and free agency near, including a promise for the son of the Celtics coach.

0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Boston Celtics New York Knicks Philadelphia 76ers Austin Rivers Damian Lillard Elton Brand Harrison Barnes

Amico On Barnes, Knicks, Sullinger

By Daniel Seco | at June 7, 2012 8:17 pm

The 2012 NBA Draft Combine got underway Thursday in Chicago and will continue through Friday as prospects are tested, weighed and interviewed with hopes of improving their stock for June 28. Former Florida star Bradley Beal's height was a point of contention heading into the combine but the ex-Gator shooting guard surprised everyone when he told reporters he measured in at 6-foot-4, which was on the higher end of expectations. Sam Amico of FOX Sports Ohio has more news and headlines out of Chicago with the draft exactly three weeks away…

0 comments 2012 NBA Draft Cleveland Cavaliers New York Knicks Bradley Beal Harrison Barnes Jared Sullinger

Knicks, Nets, Cavs, Suns Eyeing Teletovic

By Luke Adams | at June 7, 2012 3:33 pm

After leading the Euroleague in scoring this season, Mirza Teletovic may be taking his talents to North America. According to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando, the Bosnian forward is drawing interest from the Knicks, Nets, Cavaliers, and Suns.

1 comment Brooklyn Nets Cleveland Cavaliers New York Knicks Phoenix Suns Mirza Teletovic

Atlantic Notes: Allen, Meeks, Sixers, Celtics

By Chuck Myron | at June 6, 2012 5:02 pm

For much of the season, there were rumors that Boston's "Big Three" were playing their last games for the Celtics. Now, as Harvey Fialkov of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel writes, the Celtics are on the verge of forcing the Heat to break up their Big Three if Miami fails to rally in the Eastern Conference Finals. There's been plenty of speculation today about the future of the Heat, but that team isn't the only one casting an eye toward the future.

0 comments Boston Celtics Los Angeles Lakers Miami Heat New York Knicks Orlando Magic Philadelphia 76ers Flip Saunders Kevin Garnett Matt Barnes

Poll: Recent Coaching Decisions

By Luke Adams | at June 5, 2012 5:17 pm

While the Bobcats and Magic search for a new head coach, several other teams have decide to retain the ones that finished the 2011/12 season. Despite a class of potential coaches that includes Phil Jackson, Jerry Sloan, Nate McMillan, Stan Van Gundy, Mike D'Antoni, Michael Malone, Brian Shaw, and more, the Clippers, Knicks, and Wizards elected not to interview other candidates before retaining their own guys. Was that the right decision?

0 comments Hoops Rumors Polls Los Angeles Clippers New York Knicks Washington Wizards

Odds & Ends: Magic, Fernandez, Bynum, Knicks

By Luke Adams | at June 5, 2012 4:28 pm

Given the lack of competition for the top head coach candidates, the Magic have been able to proceed deliberately in their search for Stan Van Gundy's replacement. With the Knicks and Wizards retaining interim coaches and the 7-59 Bobcats the only other club interviewing candidates, Orlando hasn't had to worry about missing out on a head coach until now, according to Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel. Robbins writes that the Trail Blazers and new GM Neil Olshey could end up replacing Kaleb Canales, and that many of the same candidates the Magic are eyeing could have interest in the Portland job.

As the Magic decide whether to accelerate their coaching search, let's round up a few more odds and ends from around the Association….

0 comments Dallas Mavericks Los Angeles Lakers New York Knicks Orlando Magic Portland Trail Blazers Acie Law Andrew Bynum Jeff Bower Rudy Fernandez

Atlantic Notes: Knicks, Anthony, Nets, Humphries

By Zachary Links | at June 4, 2012 9:39 pm

Earlier this week, we learned that the Suns believe that their three biggest competitors for Steve Nash are out of the Atlantic Division: the Knicks, Nets, and Raptors. However, a piece of news today from Knicks coach Mike Woodson might indicate that they're not going to be the players for Nash that the Suns are expecting. Here's the latest from Madison Square Garden and the rest of the Atlantic..

2 comments Brooklyn Nets New York Knicks Jeremy Lin Kris Humphries

Latest On Steve Nash

By Luke Adams | at June 4, 2012 8:36 am

There was no shortage of Steve Nash updates this weekend, with one report suggesting the Suns view the Knicks, Raptors, and Nets as the top competitors for the free agent point guard, while another report indicated that the Bulls could be in the mix as well. According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, however, Nash is "still days away" from seriously considering his future. Stein and HoopsWorld's Steve Kyler each have a few notes on Nash, so let's round them up….

0 comments Brooklyn Nets Miami Heat New York Knicks Phoenix Suns Portland Trail Blazers Toronto Raptors Steve Nash

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