Suns, Hornets, Wolves Complete Three-Team Trade
7:40pm: The amount of cash going to the Hornets from the Suns is about $1.15MM, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
12:16pm: The Suns, Hornets, and Timberwolves have officially completed a three-team trade that will send Robin Lopez to the Hornets and Wesley Johnson to the Suns, the teams announced today. Per a Hornets press release, the deal breaks down as follows:
- Hornets acquire: Robin Lopez (from Suns), Hakim Warrick (from Suns), cash (from Suns)
- Suns acquire: Wesley Johnson (from Timberwolves), Brad Miller (from Hornets), Jerome Dyson (from Hornets), 2013 first-round pick (from Timberwolves)
- Timberwolves acquire: 2013 second-round pick (from Hornets), 2014 second-round pick (from Suns), 2016 second-round pick (from Hornets)
Lopez is the only player changing hands who was not previously under contract, so New Orleans receives him as part of a sign-and-trade. His contract is for three years and about $15.3MM, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
Dyson's contract is non-guaranteed, and Miller, who has a partially-guaranteed deal, is expected to retire, so Phoenix will likely waive both of those players in the near future. The first-round pick the Suns acquire from the T-Wolves will be either the Wolves' or Grizzlies' pick depending on those teams' performances. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic has the details (via Twitter).
Two of the three picks the Timberwolves receive in the deal are ones they sent to the Hornets earlier this month. The 2013 second-rounder is Brooklyn's, the 2016 second-rounder is New Orleans', and the 2014 second-rounder is the Lakers, acquired by Phoenix in the Steve Nash trade.
Now that the trade is complete, Minnesota should have the cap space to finalize its signing of Andrei Kirilenko.
Hornets, Suns, Wolves Agree To Three-Team Deal
FRIDAY, 11:51am: The Hornets' acquisition of Robin Lopez is complete, says Jimmy Smith of the Times Picayune, who adds that New Orleans will end up with Hakim Warrick as well (Twitter links). We'll have to wait for further reports or an official announcement to see how the full deal looks.
THURSDAY, 8:20pm: There won't be a resolution to the deal on Thursday night but the odds of the trade going through have improved, tweets Coro. The Hornets' cap situation is not holding up the deal from progressing further.
1:40pm: Alex Laugan of Bright Side of the Sun provides a fantastic breakdown of why this deal is currently on hold, as the Hornets' side of the transaction needs to be modified to be legal under the CBA. In all likelihood, New Orleans will need to include at least one more player or remove Hakim Warrick from the deal to make it work.
Brad Casper Resigns As Suns President
Suns president Brad Casper has resigned, reports Paul Coro of The Arizona Republic (via Twitter). Casper plans to focus his time on outside business ventures, including a Dallas-based sports nutrition company where he has served as executive chairman since March 2011.
"I enjoyed my time with the Suns," said Casper. "It was a wonderful opportunity for me, but ultimately serving the Suns while continuing to juggle a portfolio of other business interests became too much. I’m grateful to have worked with so many gifted professionals and I look forward to cheering on the team next season."
Chief Operating Officer Jason Rowley will assume the responsibility of overseeing the Suns' business operations, according to ABC15.com. Prior to being named COO in October 2011, Rowley served as the Suns' senior vice president and general counsel.
Odds & Ends: Gee, Cavs, Suns, Batum, Bobcats
A report yesterday suggested that Alonzo Gee and the Cavaliers are still far apart in negotiations on a new contract, but Gee continues to say he wants to re-sign with the club.
"I want to be in Cleveland," he told Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "This is where I want to be. I love the coaches and my teammtes. This is where I want to be.''
It was expected that the Cavs would match an offer sheet for Gee, but so far he hasn't found a deal with another club, — perhaps any team interested in the 25-year-old knows it could be a waste of time to seriously pursue him, with Cleveland poised to match any offer. While Gee waits to sign his next contract, here are a few more Thursday odds and ends from around the NBA:
- In previewing the Cavaliers' 2012/13 roster, Bob Finnan of the News-Herald assumes that either Gee or unrestricted free agent C.J. Miles will be starting at small forward for Cleveland.
- Shannon Brown's new deal with the Suns will provide some continuity for both the player and the team, writes Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
- Rick Adelman was surprised by the lengthy back-and-forth between the Timberwolves and Trail Blazers over Nicolas Batum, as he told Kerry Eggers of the Portland Tribune. "All that stuff surprised me," said the T-Wolves' coach. "We were just trying to get a player who fit in our system. Unfortunately, it went on and on and on, and I have no control over that."
- Bobcats GM Rich Cho spoke to Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld about Charlotte's offseason moves and the process of improving a team that won a record-low seven games in 2011/12.
Bobcats Still Pursuing Carl Landry
The Bobcats are still exploring ways to acquire or sign Carl Landry, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter). According to Bonnell, there's a chance the Bobcats join the trade discussions involving the Hornets, Suns, and Timberwolves, entering the deal as a fourth team.
While the Bobcats have interest in Landry and probably have the means to offer him more money than most of his other suitors, a sign-and-trade deal has proved difficult, with Bonnell reporting earlier this week than Charlotte was unlikely to work something out. In order to finalize other roster moves, the Hornets reportedly renounced Landry's Bird Rights, meaning the "sign" half of a sign-and-trade would be challenging. The team would need to recreate cap space in order to be able to give Landry a competitive salary before dealing him to the Bobcats.
The Warriors are also pursuing Landry, and while the veteran forward is said to be interested, Golden State can only offer him a portion of their mid-level exception. Signing him to the full $5MM MLE would put the club over the tax line, and ownership is looking to avoid becoming a taxpayer.
Northwest Rumors: Blazers, Lillard, Stiemsma
It's been a busy day for the Timberwolves, who finalized their deal with Alexey Shved, and agreed to a three-team deal that appears to clear the way for an agreement with Andrei Kirilenko. They're also likely to put the finishing touches on contracts for Brandon Roy and Greg Stiemsma by next week, reports Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune (Twitter link). Wednesday was active for the Trail Blazers, too, as we heard they've narrowed their list of head coaching candidates. We've got more on both Northwest Division teams right here:
- Suns coach Alvin Gentry did some campaigning for assistant Elston Turner, a finalist for the Blazers head coaching job, complimenting his work with young players and his acumen both offensively and defensively, as Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports. "After watching that kid (Damian) Lillard run the screen-and-roll, what better guy to have around than a guy who coached Steve Nash?'' Gentry said (All four Twitter links).
- Gentry also had high praise for Lillard, the sixth overall pick by the Blazers in last month's draft, saying, "That kid is going to be great,'' as Quick tweets.
- Greg Stiemsma reflected on his time in Boston, telling the Boston Herald he would have liked to return, but felt compelled to get the best financial deal for he and his family. The Celtics didn't have the cap space or exceptions needed to come close to the $3MM offer he agreed to with the Wolves.
Suns Sign Shannon Brown
WEDNESDAY, 3:33pm: Brown has officially signed his contract with the Suns, tweets Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic.
FRIDAY, 5:08pm: Shannon Brown has agreed to re-sign with the Suns, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), confirming an earlier report by Vince Marotta of Arizona Sports. The deal is for $7MM over two seasons, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv. Paul Coro of the Arizona Republic reports that only half of his second-year salary is guaranteed (Twitter link).
Earlier this week we passed along a report from Gary Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times that Brown was close to signing with a mystery team. He speculated that the team might have been the Bucks, but it appears it was Phoenix all along. Brown said in May that he was interested in returning to the team, but wanted a multiyear deal. He wound up getting two seasons after signing a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the team last year.
Brown averaged 11.0 points on 42.0% shooting last season, compiling a 13.6 PER and starting 19 games. That was enough to keep Brown's salary at the same rate for next season and give him at least a bit of the long-term security he wanted, while allowing the Suns to maintain the flexibility to go after a major free agent next offseason.
Hornets Pursuing Robin Lopez
Only four names are left on our list of this summer's restricted free agents, and one is drawing significant interest from the Hornets. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter), New Orleans has "worked hard" to complete a sign-and-trade deal for Robin Lopez, but has been unsuccessful so far.
The Suns would like to retain their restricted free agent center, but have so far been unable to come to terms with Lopez, according to Wojnarowski (via Twitter). If the 24-year-old were to sign an offer sheet with another club, the Suns would likely match it, so the Hornets are looking to avoid that scenario by sending compensation to Phoenix. New Orleans pulled off a similar deal with the Magic, sending Gustavo Ayon to Orlando in exchange for a signed-and-traded Ryan Anderson.
Lopez has averaged just 14.4 minutes per game in his four seasons with the Suns, but has been reasonably efficient in his limited playing time, averaging 5.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 14.9 PER in 242 career contests.
Celtics Acquire Courtney Lee
5:49pm: The second-round picks the Blazers will get are both for 2013, tweets Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. They'll receive the Celtics' own selection, along with the Timberwolves' pick that the C's acquired in an earlier deal. Freeman also passes along word from Blazers GM Neil Olshey, who says he is hopeful Pavlovic will make the team out of camp (Twitter link). Freeman confirms, via Twitter, that the Celtics will send the Blazers cash to cover Pavlovic's salary, which will likely be the veteran's minimum. Pavlovic's 2012/13 contract is non-guaranteed, so he could be waived without the Blazers taking a cap hit, Freeman confirms in an email to Hoops Rumors.
4:05pm: In making their own official announcement about the trade, the Trail Blazers noted that they'll acquire two future second-rounders from the Celtics, rather than just one (Twitter link).
2:12pm: The Rockets have officially announced the Lee sign-and-trade agreement in a press release. Based on the team's announcement and a tweet from Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe, the deal looks like this:
- Celtics receive: Courtney Lee (sign-and-trade from Rockets)
- Rockets receive: JaJuan Johnson, E'Twaun Moore, Sean Williams, Bobcats' 2013 second-round pick (from Celtics), and the rights to Jon Diebler (from Trail Blazers)
- Trail Blazers receive: Sasha Pavlovic, second-round pick (from Celtics)
According to ESPN.com's John Hollinger (via Twitter), Lee will earn exactly $5MM in his first year, making his total contract worth the same as the maximum mid-level exception (four years, $21.35MM). The Rockets, meanwhile, are expected to waive Moore and Williams in the very near future. Diebler, the player whose rights Houston receives from Portland, was selected by the Blazers 51st overall in 2011 and spent last season overseas.
Agent Says Knicks Eyeing Shooting Guards
Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com reports the Knicks have interest in unrestricted free agents Sonny Weems and Maurice Evans, according to Roger Montgomery, the agent for both players. The Knicks are seeking depth at shooting guard with Iman Shumpert out until January and J.R. Smith the only rotation-caliber two-guard on the roster, but have only the veteran's minimum at their disposal, as Zwerling points out.
The Knicks could also be a candidate for Randy Foye if the Clippers consent to a sign-and-trade, writes Jerry Zgoda of the Star Tribune, also identifying the Suns, Bucks and Bulls as Foye suitors (Twitter link). Foye spent most of last season in the starting lineup for the Clippers, averaging 11.0 points, 2.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds with a 13.5 PER.
The 26-year-old Weems spent last season playing overseas after averaging 9.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists for the Raptors in 2010/11. Toronto withdrew its qualifying offer to Weems last week, making him an unrestricted free agent. Evans, who'll be 34 when the season starts, spent last season with the Wizards, putting up 4.9 PPG, 1.0 RPG and 0.4 APG in just 14.3 minutes a night.
Evans seems the more likely bet to settle for the minimum salary, as Zwerling notes. A twist to the story is that Montgomery is also the agent for Jeremy Lin, whose offer sheet the Knicks declined to match this week.