Pacers Acquire Luis Scola From Suns
2:31pm: The Suns have also confirmed that the trade is official, via their website.
2:06pm: The Pacers have announced the trade in a press release.
"I’m very, very excited to play for the Pacers," Scola said, as part of the Pacers statement. "They are one of the top three teams in the NBA with a good shot to win a championship. I think it’s a great team and this is a great opportunity. I can’t wait."
1:39pm: The Pacers and Suns have reached an agreement on a trade that sends Luis Scola to Indiana, tweets USA Today's Sam Amick. Paul Coro notes that the framework of the deal, reported earlier by Amick and Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, will send Gerald Green, Miles Plumlee and Indiana's lottery-protected 2014 first-round draft pick to Phoenix in exchange for Scola (Twitter link).
The move strengthens the Pacers as they attempt to overcome the Heat, who've knocked them out of the playoffs the past two seasons. Scola will be of particular help on the offensive end, where he's a career 14.2 points-per-game scorer, and he'll improve a second-unit that lagged far behind Indiana's starting lineup last season. The Suns claimed him off amnesty waivers from the Rockets last summer, and the inexpensive bid helped faciliate the deal with Indiana. Scola will make more than $4.5MM this year, with a non-guaranteed $4.868MM in 2014/15.
Suns GM Ryan McDonough reunites with Green, whom the Celtics drafted 18th overall in 2005, when McDonough was beginning to work his way up Boston's front office chain of command. Green will make $3.5MM this year and next as part of a three-year contract he signed with the Pacers last summer, before he wound up buried on coach Frank Vogel's bench. Plumlee, the 26th overall pick in 2012, was even farther down the Pacers depth chart, appearing in more D-League games (15) than NBA contests (14) last season.
The jewel of the deal for Phoenix appears to be the pick, which will almost certainly be at the back end of the first round. Still, the Suns are in line for three first-rounders in next year's talent-rich draft, including their own, as SB Nation's Paul Flannery points out (Twitter link). Sending the 33-year-old Scola out will allow the team to develop more of its young talent, and perhaps shave a few wins from its total, giving the team a better chance at the top overall pick.
Pacers Nearing Trade For Luis Scola
1:34pm: Green, Miles Plumlee, and a protected 2014 draft pick are the parts headed to Phoenix in the proposal, Wojnarowski tweets. USA Today's Sam Amick tweets that the pick is lottery protected. Marc Stein of ESPN.com notes that the deal is still a proposal at this point, so it looks like a formal agreement has not yet been reached (Twitter link).
SATURDAY, 12:56am: The "early word" is that the Pacers will send Gerald Green and draft considerations to Phoenix in exchange for Scola, Stein reports. The teams are still discussing the specifics of the picks headed Phoenix's way (Twitter links).
FRIDAY, 10:50pm: The Suns and Pacers are having "serious" talks about a trade that would ship Luis Scola to Indiana, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. The teams are close to an agreement, Wojnarowski also tweets, but the deal won't involve Danny Granger, as Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link).
The Pacers have been pursuing Scola for weeks, according to Wojnarowski (Twitter link), though both front offices have been keeping the news quiet. The Pacers re-signed starting power forward David West this summer, and they also brought in Chris Copeland. Centers Roy Hibbert and Ian Mahinmi are on long-term deals, so there wouldn't seem to be an immediate fit for Scola, unless one of Indiana's big men is headed to Phoenix.
As Stein notes, the news originated in Scola's native Argentina, where Juan Sebastia, Scola's publicist, tweets tonight that Scola is headed to the Pacers, and that the deal will become official Saturday. Scola is set to make a little more than $4.5MM this season, with a non-guaranteed $4.868MM on the books for 2014/15. The Suns are under the cap, but the Pacers are over it, so Indiana would have to give up about $3MM in salary to make the deal work if Scola is the only player Phoenix is giving up.
The Pacers could make a straight-up acquisition of Scola work with either Mahinmi or Gerald Green, or they could aggregate the salaries of Lance Stephenson, Miles Plumlee and Orlando Johnson. West and Copeland are ineligible to be traded until the middle of next season because they signed new deals this summer.
The 33-year-old Scola has been remarkably durable in his six-year NBA career, missing just eight regular season games, all of them in 2010/11. His minutes declined somewhat last year in his first season with the Suns, who claimed him off amnesty waivers after the Rockets cut him in a cap-clearing move. He notched 12.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 26.6 minutes per game in 2012/13, with a 16.7 PER that's nearly identical to his career mark of 16.9.
Potential Destinations For Gustavo Ayon
Before Gustavo Ayon's 2013/14 contract could become fully guaranteed yesterday, the Bucks made a somewhat surprising decision, electing to release him and avoid paying his modest $1.5MM salary. Ayon isn't a star, or even a starter, but he has size (6'10") and has exhibited an ability to be productive and efficient (15.1 PER) in limited playing time in his first two NBA seasons. As ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton tweeted last night, the 25-year-old would make a good, cheap fourth or fifth big man for many teams around the league.
Ayon is currently on waivers, set to become a free agent this weekend if he goes unclaimed. Considering we recently saw promising big man Bernard James clear waivers without any teams placing a claim, it's certainly not a lock that any club claims Ayon — particularly since his $1.5MM salary would be fully guaranteed for a team that grabbed him off waivers.
Still, let's assume that a number of teams are at least mulling the possibility of placing a claim, if not entirely committed to the move quite yet. Ayon isn't on a minimum-salary contract, which means not every NBA team is able to submit a claim. As we note in our glossary entry on the waiver process, only teams with at least $1.5MM in cap space or a traded player exception worth $1.5MM+ are eligible to claim Ayon.
Keeping those criteria in mind, and recalling that if two or more teams place a claim, the club with the worst record last season gets first priority, here are the teams who could claim Ayon, in order of priority:
- Charlotte Bobcats: Renouncing Gerald Henderson would be necessary to place a claim on Ayon, so the Bobcats probably won't be in the mix.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: Like the Bobcats, the Cavs would have to make a corresponding move (waiving C.J. Miles' non-guaranteed contract) to create the necessary room for Ayon, so they're not a likely suitor.
- Philadelphia 76ers: The 76ers still appear to have more than $11MM in cap room, per Mark Deeks of ShamSports.
- Utah Jazz: Within the same piece, Deeks notes that the Jazz should still be about $2.4MM below the cap, even without making additional cap-clearing moves.
- Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks have about $1.8MM in space, according to Deeks, and could create more by waiving their non-guaranteed players. That figure doesn't take into account Pero Antic's new deal with the team though.
- Golden State Warriors: Having created a pair trade exceptions in their three-way deal with the Nuggets and Jazz, the Warriors could use the smaller of the two ($4MM) to claim Ayon.
- Los Angeles Clippers: The Clippers created a TPE worth Eric Bledsoe's salary (about $2.6MM) in the trade that sent him to the Suns.
- Memphis Grizzlies: The Grizzlies have stockpiled a number of TPEs, but the $2.08MM exception created in last January's deal with the Cavs would make the most sense for claiming Ayon.
- Denver Nuggets: In the aforementioned three-way deal with Golden State and Utah, the Nuggets created a trade exception worth nearly $10MM.
- Oklahoma City Thunder: OKC has a pair of TPEs large enough to absorb Ayon — one was created when they moved Eric Maynor, while the more recent one came as a result of signing-and-trading Kevin Martin.
Even though 10 teams can technically place a waiver claim on Ayon, there's no guarantee that any of them actually will. Pelton thinks the Sixers, Jazz, Warriors, and Clippers represent the likeliest candidates for a claim, and I agree with him.
Philadelphia and Utah have room to add salary (in the Sixers' case, they need to add salary to reach the cap floor) and are heading into rebuilding years, which would allow them to take a long look at Ayon. Meanwhile, the Warriors and Clippers could each use one more big man, and Ayon's inexpensive salary wouldn't take Golden State into tax territory.
If Ayon goes unclaimed, I imagine he'd strongly consider returning overseas, since he'd at least have a chance to earn more playing time there. Don't be surprised to see one of the 10 NBA teams above take a shot on him though.
This post originally listed the Magic as a team eligible to claim Ayon, but because Orlando traded him in February, the club can't claim or re-sign him until the one-year anniversary of the deal.
FA Rumors: Maggette, Blair, Telfair, Tinsley
Restricted free agents like Nikola Pekovic, Brandon Jennings, and Gerald Henderson represent the most intriguing names left on the free agent market, but in his latest piece for HoopsWorld, Alex Kennedy takes a look at a few unrestricted free agents who have flown more under the radar. Here are some highlights from Kennedy:
- Corey Maggette considered retiring to pursue a front office job, but it looks like he'll postpone that plan for at least a year. Maggette would like to play for a contender, and could likely be had for a one-year, minimum-salary deal.
- Although more than a dozen teams, including the Bulls and Clippers, have expressed some level of interest in DeJuan Blair, the big man still hasn't been able to secure the sort of multiyear offer he's seeking.
- There continues to be mutual interest between the Knicks and Sebastian Telfair, who has also attracted some interest from contenders like the Heat and Thunder.
- The Nets nearly signed Jamaal Tinsley earlier in the offseason, but opted for Shaun Livingston instead. Tinsley is now considering teams like the Mavericks, Rockets, Bobcats, and Suns.
- Keyon Dooling still appears likely to make a decision on a team within the next week, and he figures to land a one-year contract worth the veteran's minimum.
- After turning down the Bobcats last summer to join an apparent contender (the Lakers), Antawn Jamison could end up returning home to Charlotte this time around, according to Kennedy.
Western Notes: Jazz, Hornacek, Lillard
Bill Oram of The Salt Lake Tribune underscores the Jazz' competitive disadvantage in having to share a D-League affiliate with four other NBA teams, considering how each team can only have so much individual expectations. He also notes that NBA teams with single affiliation hire their own coaches, provide support and direct on-court decisions, whereas the Jazz have to leave things up to the discretion of their independently owned D-League team. Should the ideal opportunity present itself, Oram mentions that Jazz president Randy Rigby would be interested in putting an expansion development league team in St. George, Utah, though that possibility still remains a dream scenario for now.
Here are some more news and notes out of the Western Conference tonight:
- Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee writes that DeMarcus Cousins is still waiting to hear from Shaq, who pledged last month that he would "make (him) the best big man in the game."
- Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek made quite an impression on the players he led during this month's summer competition, writes Matt Petersen of Suns.com. In a separate piece, Petersen, Brad Faye, and Ben York of Suns.com give their thoughts on who and what stood out for them the most this month in Las Vegas.
- Trail Blazers standout Damian Lillard reflects on his successful rookie campaign and discusses his thoughts on the team going into next year (Alex Kennedy of Hoopsworld).
- Kings.com takes an in-depth look at Ben McLemore's first day in the NBA summer league (video link).
Western Notes: Wolves, Gomes, Mavs, Clark
Grantland's Zach Lowe wrote earlier today that there's about a "99.9999%" chance that the Timberwolves work out a deal to bring back Nikola Pekovic. Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune also suggests that it's just a matter of time, tweeting that he thinks a deal will be completed next week. Whether or not the Wolves re-sign Pekovic, and it seems like a lock that they will, don't expect the team to have any interest in Greg Oden, says Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cities (via Twitter). According to Wolfson, David Kahn had interest in Oden, but Flip Saunders is passing on the former first overall pick.
Here are a few more items from out of the Western Conference:
- Ryan Gomes, who says he hopes to be a coach one day, has worked out for the Thunder and Spurs as he weighs his options for the upcoming season, he tells Nick Greene of the Hartford Courant.
- Mavericks owner Mark Cuban appeared on KESN-FM in Dallas to follow up on his comments about the team potentially being better off without Dwight Howard, and the Dallas Morning News has the details.
- Undrafted free agent guard Ian Clark put up 33 points in the Warriors' championship win at the Las Vegas Summer League, and is drawing interest from NBA teams, as Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today writes. Zillgitt names the Warriors, Trail Blazers, and Jazz as clubs eyeing Clark.
- A strong Summer League performance also has NBA teams eyeing Dionte Christmas, according to Shams Charania of RealGM.com. The Suns are among the clubs with interest.
Pacific Notes: Thompson, Cousins, Marshall
Even though the Lakers said repeatedly that they wouldn't entertain a sign-and-trade for Dwight Howard this summer, many believed that the Warriors would have been able to change their minds with a package involving Klay Thompson if D12 chose Golden State. Thompson has obvious ties to L.A., but he stayed even-keeled as the speculation was going on, writes Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News. “If it happened, it happened,” Thompson said. “That’s nothing you can control. I’m happy where I’m at.” Here's more out of the Pacific Division..
- Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins says that he's not worried about a potential contract extension and he's only focused on Team USA at the moment, tweets Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. Cousins added (link) that new GM Pete D'Alessandro has asked for his input on free agents, which hasn't happened before under previous management.
- When asked if he wants to stay with the Kings, Cousins answered in the affirmative without hesitation, writes Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
- Despite a disappointing rookie year, Suns guard Kendall Marshall is working to play a key role in the club's rotation this season, writes RealGM's Shams Charania. He'll have his work cut out for him as he'll jockey for time with Goran Dragic, Eric Bledsoe, Shannon Brown, and Malcolm Lee.
Odds & Ends: Bobcats, Expansion, Kings, Brown
USA Today's Sam Amick rounds up the news from the Board of Governors meeting today, which featured unanimous approval of Charlotte's name change from Bobcats to Hornets. Commissioner David Stern initially laughed off the idea of the switch, but fan support for the Hornets monicker persuaded him to take the issue seriously, Amick writes. Stern also offered hints that the league could consider expansion to Seattle and Las Vegas in the future, and he said the union's lack of an executive director has hung up the league's plans to implement human growth hormone testing by next season. Amick also passes along the league's rule adjustments, and we've got more from the meeting as we look around the Association this evening:
- In May, the league imposed a deadline of 2017 for the opening of a new arena in Sacramento, but Stern indicated today that he's pleased with the progress the Kings and the city are making, as Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee observes.
- The Nuggets, Wizards, Grizzlies, Suns and Knicks were all in attendance as Bobby Brown participated in a five-on-five scrimmage Wednesday, reports Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. The Knicks also saw Brown workout Tuesday, and they're reportedly moving toward a deal.
- Eric Gordon tells Shams Charania of RealGM.com that the Pelicans have assured him that he's a part of the team's long-term plans.
- Lakers VP Jim Buss said on NBA TV tonight that he strongly believes Kobe Bryant's torn Achilles will be healed in time for him to play in preseason games this fall, notes Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.
- The Bulls may have promised a training camp invitation to Andrew Goudelock as an enticement to get him to play for their summer league team, according to Mike McGraw of the Daily Herald (Twitter link).
- Raptors GM Masai Ujiri has maintained flexibility with his underwhelming free agent haul this summer, but his decision to keep the core of the team intact could have negative consequences, as Eric Koreen of the National Post examines.
Contract Details: Andersen, Young, Roberson
The specific figures on several of this summer's contracts continue to trickle in, so we'll keep passing along any notable details or changes related to those deals. Here's the latest:
- Chris Andersen will be getting the minimum salary in his deal with the Heat, according to Mark Deeks of ShamSports (Twitter link). Previous reports indicated he'd receive 120%, the most the Heat could give him via Non-Bird rights.
- Eric Pincus updated several team salary figures at HoopsWorld, including the Pacers, Clippers, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Pelicans, Knicks, Thunder, Magic, 76ers, and Suns.
- Nick Young's deal with the Lakers includes a 15% trade kicker, tweets Pincus.
- According to Pincus, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Carmelo Anthony, and Kendrick Perkins all saw their cap hits for next season increase or decrease, based on having met or failed to meet incentives (all four Twitter links).
- While most of this year's first-round picks will sign for 120% of their rookie-scale amount, it appears Thunder first-rounder Andre Roberson signed for just 80% of his, tweets Pincus.
- It seems as if Dwight Buycks received a portion of the Raptors' mid-level exception rather than the minimum salary. Deeks tweets that he'll get a guaranteed $700K from Toronto. Buycks reportedly signed a multiyear deal, so it's not clear if his second-year salary exceeds the minimum or includes a guarantee.
Odds & Ends: Oden, Henderson, Rockets, Raptors
Here are a few Wednesday odds and ends from around the Association:
- Although we'd previously heard that the Pelicans hoped to meet with Greg Oden this week, it now appears they'll do so next week, tweets Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
- Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times (Twitter link) is hearing that Gerald Henderson is seeking something in the neighborhood of O.J. Mayo money ($8MM annually).
- The Rockets have some interest in the recently-released Mike Miller and Marcus Camby, tweets Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle.
- Having amnestied Linas Kleiza and bought out Camby, the Raptors will likely use the rest of their mid-level exception ($2.15MM) to bring in another player, but will probably save their bi-annual exception for next year, says Ryan Wolstat of the Toronto Sun (via Twitter).
- Pistons GM Joe Dumars recently denied a pair of trade rumors involving his club, but says the door will "continually stay open" on talks that could help improve the roster (link via Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News).
- Grantland's Zach Lowe spoke to new Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek about taking over a lottery team, playing two point guards at the same time, and how Michael Beasley can save his career.