Lawrence On Bobcats, George Hill, Joe Johnson
Yesterday, we covered a report from Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News about the Raptors' potential interest in Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin. That wasn't Lawrence's only rumor of note this weekend though. Here are a few more items of interest from the Daily News scribe:
- The Bobcats' coaching search continues with Charlotte requesting and receiving permission to speak with Grizzlies assistant David Joerger.
- According to Lawrence, George Hill turned down a $6MM-per-year extension offer from the Pacers earlier this season. Hill will be a restricted free agent this summer, and Lawrence wonders if the Spurs, his old team, will have interest.
- Expect to hear Joe Johnson's name in trade rumors this offseason, potentially with the Knicks if Mike Woodson remains the head coach, says Lawrence. Even with about $89MM and four years remaining on Johnson's contract, it's hard to imagine the Hawks trading him in a deal for Amare Stoudemire.
Poll: Where Will Steve Nash End Up?
One of the most high-profile players to hit free agency this summer will be Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash. The 38-year-old continues to express interest in returning to the Suns, although there is heavy speculation that he will instead sign with a contender such as the Heat. He’s also been linked to the Blazers, Knicks, and Raptors in various scenarios. Where do you think Nash will play in 2012/13?
Where Will Steve Nash Play In 2012/13?
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Miami 25% (304)
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New York 23% (276)
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Toronto 18% (219)
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Phoenix 16% (188)
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Other 14% (167)
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Portland 4% (53)
Total votes: 1,207
Knicks Notes: J.R. Smith, Phil Jackson, Anthony
The Knicks face a series of offseason questions ranging from which players they will keep to help fill out their bench to whether Mike Woodson will return as head coach. Let's head to Madison Square Garden to check in on the latest headlines and stories making noise in New York City.
- The Knicks are hoping J.R. Smith doesn't opt out of his $2.5MM contract and returns to the team next season, reports Marc Berman of the New York Post. The former Nuggets sharpshooter is a strong fit for the Knicks because he's comfortable coming off the bench as the team's sixth man. Smith, 26, averaged 12.5 PPG during the regular season but struggled during the playoffs against the Heat where his 3PT% was just .179.
- Berman says Knicks owner James Dolan is foolish for not taking the opportunity to call Phil Jackson to see if the legendary coach had any interest in leading the Knicks next season. While Jackson is still recovering from knee replacement surgery, nothing would have been lost by Dolan calling the former Knicks forward to see if he wanted to assume the reigns from Woodson. Berman fears that the Knicks will be no better than the Woodson's Hawks teams except with die-hard fans and sellout crowds.
- The Knicks will have to build their roster around Carmelo Anthony if they have any hope of beating the Heat during the playoffs in seasons to come, writes Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News. It's not so much that Anthony is the savior to the team's struggles but rather that the team has invested so heavily in him with the players they traded and the contract he signed that it would be too early to give up on him. Lupica says the team will need to get creative to find additional talent to add to the team's roster heading into next season.
Odds & Ends: Rose, Bulls, Knicks, Terry
- The Knicks will be looking for another point guard to partner with Jeremy Lin, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post. Among Berman's list of targets are Kirk Hinrich, Gary Neal, Derek Fisher, A.J. Price, Jannero Pargo, and Jonny Flynn. He also mentions Ramon Sessions, Raymond Felton, Goran Dragic, Andre Miller, Jameer Nelson, and Steve Nash, but I think that the names on this latter list would only be sought after if contract talks with Lin were to somehow fall apart.
- After recently having his interim tag removed, Knicks GM Glen Grunwald has a lot of work cut out for him in the upcoming months, says Al Iannazzone of Newsday. He also adds that with the mid-level likely committed to Lin and no first-round pick, Grunwald will have to be creative with trades and free agency in order to address their back court needs. In another article, Iannazzone goes over the five biggest questions facing the team moving forward.
- Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News speculates that Jason Terry could be on his way out if Deron Williams lands with the Mavericks (subscribers only).
- Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld engaged in his weekly NBA chat with fans. Here are some of his notable thoughts: the Magic may try to package their #19 pick along with Jason Richardson or Chris Duhon to create cap relief, Austin Rivers' game is comparable to Jason Terry and Jamal Crawford, and predicts that Dwight Howard will wind up signing with the Nets eventually.
- Bob Young of the Arizona Republic offers his input on the chances of reportedly interested teams in their pursuit of Steve Nash. Phoenix, Toronto, New York, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, and Portland are given consideration.
- John Rohde of NewsOK explores how the support of his Thunder teammates has played a pivotal role in Eric Maynor's road to recovery from a torn ACL.
Coaching Rumors: Brown, Woodson, Jackson
- Warren LeGarie, the agent for Lakers coach Mike Brown, feels confident his client will return to the bench next season after LeGarie spoke with GM Mitch Kupchak about comments former minority owner Magic Johnson made suggesting Brown would be fired if the team didn't win tonight, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter links). Spears also tweets that the Lakers are expected to release a statement in support of Brown, and pointed out that Brown has two more guaranteed seasons left on his four-year, $20MM deal.
- Dave McMenamin of ESPN LA tweets that Brown's job is not dependent on the result of Game 7 tonight, according to a source with knowledge of the Lakers' thinking.
- Brown said earlier today he was unfazed by what Johnson said, and had no indication there was any truth to it, tweeted NBA.com's Scott Howard-Cooper.
- Frank Isola of the New York Daily News scolds Knicks coach Mike Woodson for giving into owner James Dolan's wishes regarding his choice of agents.
- With Phil Jackson feeling better, Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld speculates about where he might coach next if he returns to the bench, mentioning the Knicks, Thunder, Bulls, Mavs, Magic and Lakers.
- Rachel Shuster of USA Today wonders if the Bobcats might also be a landing spot for the Zen Master, since the owner is Michael Jordan, Jackson's first star pupil.
Odds & Ends: Rose, D’Antoni, Knicks, Nets, Lakers
We've got two games on the docket tonight, as the Sixers and Celtics kick off their second round series while the Lakers and Nuggets battle it out in Game 7. Here's a look at today's links..
- Derrick Rose underwent surgery on his left knee today, but projections for his return are varied, as K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune rounds up. Though Rose's brother insists Derrick will not miss the entire season, the Bulls released a statement today saying more details on his prognosis are coming next week.
- Though there has been speculation that Mike D'Antoni could be interested in the Magic if Stan Van Gundy doesn't return as the team's coach, he is just as likely to sit out the 2012/13 season, a source tells Marc Berman of the New York Post.
- Speaking of Knicks coaches, Mike Woodson is considering agent Steve Kauffman as well as CAA as he looks for new representation, according to Berman. Owner James Dolan never demanded Woodson part with former agent Joe Glass, but filled him in on the troubled history between the team and the agent. After hearing that, Woodson felt negotiations would be smoother without Glass.
- If the Nets do in fact plan to sign Andrei Kirilenko, they won't have much rebounding in their starting lineup with him alongside Brook Lopez and Gerald Wallace, tweets Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News. Reports that the team had a verbal agreement in place for a three-year deal were shot down last week.
- Andrew Bynum could find himself playing elsewhere if the Lakers get bounced tonight and he doesn't have a strong performance, opines Stephen A. Smith of ESPN Radio (via Twitter).
- Meanwhile, Magic Johnson believes that Bynum, head coach Mike Brown, and Pau Gasol will all be run out of town if the Lakers lose, writes Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops.
New York Notes: Williams, Nets, Bogdanovic
Yesterday, we learned that Nets point guard Deron Williams was set to meet with owner Mikhail Prokhorov and General Manager Billy King in Istanbul, Turkey. Here's more on the pow-wow and other items out of the New York area..
- Williams spoke with Prokhorov at the Euroleague game yesterday and had "a good conversation", but there was no formal meeting as other reports suggested, according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
- King tweeted that he had a good meeting with 2011 second-round pick Bojan Bogdanovic. The swingman is currently under contract with Turkey's Fenerbahçe Ülker and came to the Nets through a pair of draft day trades.
- Phil Jackson's girlfriend Jeanie Buss told “Mason and Ireland” on ESPN 710 that she believes the former Lakers coach will eventually return to the sidelines, according to Alex Kennedy of HoopsWorld. League sources told Kennedy that the Knicks haven’t contacted Jackson as of yet, but they’re expected to reach out to him in the coming weeks.
Carmelo Anthony Talks Knicks Offseason
As we discussed earlier today, the Knicks offseason conundrum is one of the more intriguing storylines of the summer. Jared Zwerling of ESPN New York posted a brief look today, including quotes from Carmelo Anthony and Jared Jeffries.
Anthony said he was willing to offer his take on an offseason strategy to the Knicks brass:
"I would like to stay out of it but in order for us to get better, if it's something that the front office needs my opinion on, I'm there for them. But that's why those guys get paid the big bucks," Anthony said.
Anthony's teammate Jeffries was on ESPN radio on Friday afternoon and when asked what he thought the team's biggest offseason need was, he said:
"I think if we can find a young, athletic three that can come in and kind of give Melo a break. I think this year, we relied so much on Melo at our three position, that if we can get a young, athletic three that can come in and give us some scoring, but also a lot of defense, that will be big for us.
"I feel like because Melo is so versatile, he can move to the four some. So if Amare does get tired, Melo can move to that position. But I feel like if Melo moves to the four, we had to go really small at our three. We go with Landry, we go with Shumpert. If we can find somebody, like a Kawhi Leonard [of the Spurs], a knock-down 3-point shooter at the three that can also play defense, for the right kind of price, because this year we have so little cap room, you bring him in and now you can move Melo to the four and still big at three position."
As Luke Adams outlined, New York has a very limited amount of salary cap flexibility so it is uncertain exactly how they would acquire the caliber of player that Jeffries seems to be talking about. Also without a first round pick, the Knicks front office will really have to get creative if they want to get past the first round next season.
The Knicks And The Salary Cap
During yesterday's live chat, I received a number of questions about the Knicks' cap situation heading into next season, and how it would affect their ability to re-sign free agents. It's definitely an interesting and complex case, and it's worth taking a more extended look at it now that the team's season has ended.
The Knicks currently have just five players on guaranteed contracts for next season, which would typically result in a good deal of cap flexibility. In New York's case though, three of those players – Carmelo Anthony ($20.46MM), Amare Stoudemire ($19.95MM), and Tyson Chandler ($13.6MM) combine for over $54MM, almost the entire $58.04MM cap. Iman Shumpert's and Toney Douglas' salaries are far more modest, but still put the 2012/13 team salary at $57.72MM heading into the summer.
If the Knicks want to match offers for restricted free agent Jeremy Lin, they'll almost certainly need to use their full $5MM mid-level exception. To be eligible for the full MLE, the team will need to keep its 2012/13 salary commitments below the "apron" — about $74.3MM, or $4MM above the luxury tax threshold. This leaves the Knicks about $16.58MM to spend on at least eight players.
The Knicks will have the opportunity to re-sign both Lin and Landry Fields, but rival teams can offer those players first-year salaries of up to $5MM each, per the Gilbert Arenas provision. If New York is forced to match offer sheets at that price, it will leave the team with only $6.58MM of wiggle room below the apron, with six players still to sign. And that's assuming J.R. Smith doesn't exercise his $2.5MM player option, which would reduce the team's flexibility even more.
New York has some options, but not many are both realistic and appealing. With no amnesty clause and no way to restructure contracts downward, reducing Stoudemire's cap hit is virtually impossible. Anthony and/or Chandler would have trade value, but the Knicks likely wouldn't have any desire to move their top scorer or the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.
If James Dolan and Knicks ownership were willing to become a taxpaying team, the Knicks could easily re-sign Fields, Smith, and Steve Novak. But crossing the tax line would reduce the club's mid-level exception to $3MM, meaning New York would be powerless to match an offer sheet for Lin if the starting salary exceeded that amount.
Needless to say, it'll be a fascinating offseason in New York, as the Knicks decide which free agents are worth hanging on to at the expense of the others. I'd be shocked if Lin wasn't back, so unless a couple guys are willing to take discounts to stay, many of the team's other free agents may be on their way out of the Big Apple.
J.R. Smith Leaning Toward Exercising Option?
Although J.R. Smith recently tweeted comments suggesting he might be on his way out of New York, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports that Smith is leaning toward exercising his option and remaining a Knick. Smith, who holds a $2.5MM player option for 2012/13, said yesterday that he was "just messing" with fans on Twitter.
Ever since Smith signed with New York this season for the mini mid-level exception, reports have gone back and forth on whether he'll opt in for the second year of his contract. Berman suggests that a poor playoff performance could have an impact Smith's decision — the 26-year-old averaged just 12.2 points in 35.0 minutes per game vs. Miami, shooting 31.6% from the floor and just 17.9% from downtown.
"The way the economy is working nowadays, I don’t even know," Smith said of his value on the open market. "In my heart I believe I am [worth more than $2.5MM]. But you got a look at it from a standpoint of where everyone else is as well."
Like Smith, I still believe he's worth more than $2.5MM on the open market, and I have my doubts about whether he'll really opt in. If he does, it would complicate matters for New York, who won't have the means to retain all their free agents this offseason. If Smith opts in, the team should still be able to re-sign Jeremy Lin, but may have to part ways with Landry Fields and Steve Novak.